Dysfunctional family at home on stage

Published: Thursday, April 30, 1998

Thursday, April 30, 1998

THEATER: 'Islands and Avenues' offers charming mix of cross dressers, unconscious bodies, general lunacy

By Vanessa VanderZanden

Daily Bruin Staff

A revealing novelist, her scatter-brained microbiologist brother and his narcoleptic, hiccuping wife. A cross-dressing couple and their cross-dressing parents. These characters must involve UCLA alumni.

Here's To You Productions, a theater troupe founded by four UCLA graduates, is presenting the two-play work, "Islands and Avenues," through May 30.

Shown in the intimate Actor's Circle Theater on Santa Monica Boulevard, the hilarious pieces are at home in the cozy, out-of-the-way setting. Both one-hour shorts, "Family Calamity" and "Seaview Avenue La Difference," put a new spin on Friday and Saturday night entertainment.

Dealing with family relationships in unfamiliar ways, the plays utilize comedy and psychology to turn the unlikely plot situations into meaningful social commentary.

As characters react to peculiar circumstances, they obtain a new perspective on their attitudes toward one another. However, the pieces leave the strange events taking place on stage a mystery to be worked out, causing audiences to hang onto every well-turned word.

As actor Chet Nelson drags fellow performer Alexa Koenig on stage to begin "Family Calamity," curious onlookers chuckle cautiously. The opening scene has him yelling to Samantha Brown, "I'm in control!"

No one has any idea what's going on.

What has happened to the unconscious body in Nelson's arms? Who is she, and what is her connection to Nelson? How is Nelson related to Brown, and who exactly lives in the apartment in which the action takes place?

Attempting to make sense of the details which spastically seep out of the characters' indignant mouths proves to be half the fun. The suspense keeps the experience lively, while the exuberant performances, - sometimes a little too vibrant - keep audiences awake.

However, Taleen Kullukian's role as a blunt, thick-accented New York ASPCA worker, steals the show when she enters the piece later. She gives a new angle to the work, which has a tendency to border on melodrama and overstated humor. Yet the play works well on the whole with its eccentric plot line and bizarre, quirky characters.

Likewise, "Seaview Avenue La Difference" veers away from the normal theater experience. This much more polished piece involves strong performances from every actor with the lead (Don Mercer) born to play his sensitive, yet brusque, '90s male part.

As Mercer enters the stage in a dress, wig and heels, audiences don't know what to expect. The addition of his female counterpart dressed in a man's suit and tie continues to throw fans off. Just as in "Family Calamity," the creative plot has twists and turns which slowly reveal the intricacies of the tale.

Written by Mark Troy, the screenwriter of the Kato Kaelin porno flick, "Beach Fever," as well as the S&M classic, "Zipperface," the plays have a slick, racy edge to them. Allusions to peep shows and prostitutes pop up, but only in the most appropriate and comical of places.

Though it often seems easier to just stop in at a party or pop a porno in the VCR (as the case may be), "Islands and Avenues" offers a unique form of entertainment. The pea-sized theater allows audience members to appreciate the witty facial contortions of the actors and brings a closer connection to the events taking place. And for the cheap student price of $10, the experience can't be beat.

THEATER: "Islands and Avenues" runs through May 30 at the Actor's Circle Theater, 7313 Santa Monica Blvd. Tickets are $15 at door, $12 with reservations and $2 off for students and seniors. Call (310) 226-8428 for reservations.

Actor's Circle Theater

Taleen Kullukian stars as an ASPCA worker in the play, "Islands."

Actor's Circle Theater

Don Mercer stars in "Seaview Avenue La Difference."