through August 9, 2014
by Konrad Rogowski
The unearthing and ghoulish autopsy of old family secrets,
deceptions and plots creates the conflict and intrigue of New Century Theatre's
production of Jon Robin Baitz's "Other Desert Cities."
The premise of the play is pulled straight from the often
times brutal reality of today's "tell it all" autobiographies,
recounted, most often, by the children of the rich and famous; and so it is
with the Wyeth family. Author Brooke Wyeth (Cate Damon) arrives on Christmas
Eve at the home of her movie star/high powered political hob-nobbing parents
(Richard McElvain and Carol Lambert) with a present that promises to blow the
lid off of a well-kept family secret. She presents them with her "tell
all" book that suggests what happened to drive her younger brother to both
acts of mass violence and suicide. The author, who has her own take on the
family dynamics which caused this situation, give other family members --
brother Trip (Sam Gillam) and aunt Silda (Ellen W. Kaplan) -- the chance to
read and to deal with what has occurred.
Each of the actors creates characters dealing with a family
imploding into a series of hateful accusations and counter accusations. The
interesting and different facet of the play here is that each of these
characters makes points that ring true in their facts and their hypothesis,
only to be countered by the others' equally valid points, leaving the audience wondering
just who's version of the truth is the one to believe. To compound the issue,
Rand Foester has successfully directed his cast to express flawed people who
deal with others, equally flawed. By play's end, a truth does come out. The
audience discovers why Brooke finally takes the road she talks about to other
desert cities.
Foester keeps the action tight, and the arguments crisp and
ringing of reality. Daniel D. Rist's set design creates the scene...and like
the conflicts played out, it is panoramic in scope, and appears, at least to
the uninitiated, picture perfect.
