By CARA MARCOUS
Walkerspace, June 4 – 19, 2004
Directed by RICHARD
TOTH
Scenic Design MATT
DOWNS-McADON
Sound Design BRAY
POOR
Lighting Design
JUSTIN TOWNSEND
Costume Design KAY
LEE
Stage Manager KATE
SWAN
Cast
(in alphabetical
order)
Andrew Bauer – Marty
Robert Fass – William
Christopher Logan
Healy – Hank
Angela Madden – Jane
Annette Madden –
Sylvia
Cara Marcous – Rocka
.jpg)
Cara Marcous’ first full-length play, LAPSE, has
the dual distinction of also being the first full-length production to be staged
by The Hub Project, a not-for-profit company dedicated to providing support for
"groundbreaking independent artists working in New York." An oddly out of synch
study of six individuals caught up in routine, yet thwarted by shifts in time,
perception, memory and good judgment, this is the kind of play that can leave an
audience feeling like perhaps we did not quite grasp the big picture the first
time around. That’s a compliment!
What LAPSE does well is convey that the seemingly
conventional can be a cover for the bizarre. As we watch the characters repeat
the machinations of the mundane, we are soon keyed into the fact that all is not
so simple below the surface. A seemingly benign Doctor and former child prodigy,
Marty (played with a beguiling façade of innocence by Andrew Bauer), has
invented a "cure" that manipulates time within the mind of anyone who takes his
remedy. We see the effects of his "happy pills" on local waitress Jane
(deliciously portrayed by Angela Madden), and soon come to realize that there is
something a bit, perhaps, unintentionally sinister in Marty’s grand plan.
Construction worker Hank (a stalwart Christopher Logan Healy) recognizes the
danger, aware that Marty intends to give his "cure" to the lonely and daring
Sylvia (the perky Annette Madden). To complete the picture, Ms. Marcous chimes
in with a quietly refined performance as Rocka, a woman with no recollection of
her past, who meets a stranger named William (Robert Fass), who will deceive her
in the most basic of ways.
With the talented cast in place, LAPSE also features
some notable production values. Director Richard Toth has incorporated the time
shift sensibilities so present in the script in a way that only enhances the
action. The set (Matt Downs-McAdon) is just right and an impressive use of
space, suggesting Jane’s diner, Marty’s apartment, the street and a construction
zone simultaneously. Kay Lee’s costumes are perfect for each character. Justin
Townsend’s moody lighting and Bray Poor’s ambient sound complete the picture.
Not the easiest of plays to comprehend, I will summarize by
saying that LAPSE is about lapses. Be they of time, memory or judgment,
they affect characters, effect change, and bring together six seemingly
disparate individuals on a street corner in New York City. It may not be the
Twilight Zone, but LAPSE exists somewhere out there, in a place that is
not quite here underneath, but appears to be so on the surface.
- Kessa De Santis -
Archives
Listings