Theatre on the Final Frontier
Road Theatre Company, 14141 Covello St. #9-D, Van Nuys, 818-785-6175
by Frank McDonough
A NEWLY BUILT, MODERN, GLEAMING, HIGH-tech industrial center stands in Van Nuys. Due to the recession, it’s quite vacant, a shining memorial to a prosperity that once was. In those better times it would have been full of businesses pumping out parts and materials for the aerospace industry, an industry that provided a way to cope and deal with a very menacing and real outside threat. That threat, as well as the industry that was developed to counter it, is shrinking.
The Road Theatre Company occupies a space in this center that might have previously housed an aerospace industry, and like it produces a product that provides a way to cope and deal with very menacing and very real threats that come from the inside—like racism, injustice, and violence. That product is nothing less than gripping and socially conscious theatre.
Typical of the Road’s offerings is Mooncalf, a play scheduled to open in mid-September. The protagonist is Timmy, a retarded man-child who is illegally employed at a tannery. Besides suffering from the effects of the toxic chemicals at the plant, he is subjected to various degrees of torture and degradation from those around him. The play, shifting from Timmy’s dreams to reality, illustrates how he maintains his humanity despite his debasing surroundings.
Writer Leon Martell describes his work as a dark comedy, “It’s a coming of age for this guy . . . as he’s surrounded by the refuse of mankind, hip-deep in maggots and blood.” Martell writes from experience, “I worked in this tannery in the late 60’s, my grandfather worked in it for 25 years . . . We’d get lesions, they’d get tanned and turn to leather—you’d have to bandage them up before they’d heal. My grandfather had permanent bald spots burned into his scalp.”
Typical of the advice given to the employees on safety, “If you spill these chemicals, fumes will come up—don’t breathe them.”
“Historically,” says Martell, “the tannery went bankrupt (in the play it’s closed by the E.P.A.), but I just went back there and the place was walled up and crawling with guys in space suits—turns out it’s the site of an E.P.A. superfund cleanup.”
Martell’s background is extensive. He was with the Duck’s Breath Mystery Theater for fifteen years. That ensemble was frequently heard on National Public Radio and did live shows as well. He wrote kids’ shows for Fox and worked for Nickelodeon. He has also re-written many action movies, which probably accounts for the quick pacing and movement in Mooncalf.
Taylor Gilbert directs Mooncalf. She is also one of the founders of the Road Theatre Company. She says, “The most important thing with this and every other piece we do is that we can bring out social relevance. This play relates on different levels: the environmental problem, how we treat other people who we think aren’t the norm, and it’s a sweet, poignant story about a boy becoming a man.”
Gilbert discussed the progressive nature of the Road’s work, saying that “Theatre has to change, it has to evolve.” Citing the fast-paced, filmic style of Mooncalf, she added, “People’s attention span is much shorter than that needed to get through, say, a Eugene O’Neill play. What’s important is that we bring people into the theatre who haven’t seen theatre before. Besides, we are all stepchildren of the movie and T.V. industries.”
Artistic director Brad Hills joined up with the company when it moved from Burbank to its present location. “I believe in the concept that theatre should be a place to provoke thought,” says Hills, “where you can raise social issues in a setting where you can honestly address them and cause people to think and consider them.”
Hills discussed the advantages of theatre, “Sometimes [in the commercial arts] you find that statements aren’t able to be made for the wrong reasons. In theatre you don’t have that. If you can scrape enough money together to start a play you can say anything you want . . . and if you have determination, perseverance and ingenuity, you can scrape up enough money.”
Hills pointed out that The Road and other small theatre companies around L.A. are doing just that. “So much of the theatre you find [in L.A.] falls under the heading of ‘vanity’ productions—theatre done for showcase reasons as much as for anything else. I perceive that there are more theatres out there like us, doing theatre for theatre’s sake.”
Hills was greatly influenced by the plays Angels in America and Kentucky Cycle. He has had the privilege of working on both productions. These plays, according to Hills, “have made people sit up and notice of exactly what power theatre has, what it is capable of . . . they have set everybody’s standards higher.” Reflecting on his own efforts with the Road, “Obviously we’re not the Mark Taper Forum and we can’t have big angels crashing through our roof, but we can strive to address the issues in a positive way.”
The set for Mooncalf, although not as elaborate as that for Angels, is ambitious and creative by equity waiver standards. The large space of the industrial building the Road is located in allows this. Set designer Vince Moore’s creation is a twisted representation of a barn and a tannery, complete with tanning vat and ramp. It is a solid, impressive structure of steel and wood that swings on a great hinge to effect set changes.
Much like with aerospace in the early 60’s, there is a sense of something new and exciting being built. The members of the company are dedicated and enthusiastic about the work being produced here. Christopher Faville plays Timmy. He spent six weeks as a volunteer at Tierra Del Sol, a home for developmentally disabled young adults in Sunland, researching the part. His performance during rehearsal was a phenomenal representation of a young retarded man.
The Road Theatre Company has already met with considerable success and acclaim. Its recent production of Vig received excellent reviews from the L.A. Times, the Daily News, L.A. Weekly and NoHo Magazine. If rehearsals are any indication, their success should continue with Mooncalf. It looks like the Road Theatre Company is succeeding in their mission to “revitalize live theatre in the Los Angeles area through exciting, thought-provoking productions.” ♦