A CurtainUp Los Angeles Review
A Parallelogram
By Jon Magaril
| What if you found out that, in the end of all, your life actually caused more harm than good?— Bee
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Marin Ireland and Carlo Alban (Photo credit Craig Schwartz)
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Bee gets to rewind time by pressing a remote. Wouldn't everyone like to undo an act or a word that's done damage to ourself or others? And if you knew something terrible were coming, wouldn't you do anything to stop it? This is wish-fulfillment of a high order. But if you dream of making a difference in the world, don't listen to Bee 2.
The cigarette-smoking elder has traveled back in time to fill Bee in on what's in store for her and the world at large. Brought to indelibly vivid life by Marylouise Burke, she's truly been-there and done-that. And she's learned the lesson few would want to hear. It turns out Bee's not going to be able to make things better for anyone, including herself, so why bother trying?
It's enough to make anyone depressed. And maybe that's Bee's problem. Perhaps she's become aware, as many do in their early 30's, that life rarely works out according to plan. Maybe she's imagined the world-weary Bee 2 out of some existential distress. Or maybe she's got a brain disease that's creating hallucinations.
Either option would explain not just the presence of Bee 2 but Bee's growing retreat from hope. Marin Ireland's performance allows for each possibility by homing in on their commonality: a soul-deadening loss of affect.
Ireland doesn't shrink from Bee's less appetizing aspects. In a range of roles from Neil LaBute's personal best Reasons to Be Pretty on Broadway to the homegrown threat to society on TV's Homeland, she's proved herself a whiz at brandishing a simply brutal honesty. Here, she bracingly presents Bee's disengagement from the world around her, in particular her boyfriend Jay, without fanfare.
As the divorced father of two boys, Tom Irwin has a self-contained bonhomie that showcases Jay's ebullient disconnectedness. The character is referred to constantly as an asshole and Irwin doesn't fight against that. He also doesn't create a larger-than-life character we'd love to hate. He takes the bigger risk of being casually shallow.
None of the characters works all that hard at developing an intimate bond with anyone else. JJ, a Central American manual laborer, gives us hope for a while as he and Bee become closer. His directness and decency, especially as played by Carlo Alban, are a sweet salve. But even he's got his limits.
The world-class director Anna D. Shapiro, Tony winner for August: Osage County, doesn't cultivate a sense that any of the characters has even a thwarted desire for stronger emotional involvements. To do so would presumably go against Norris' intentions. After all, he's given the roles names that would fit the figures in a mathematical proof or a report on a science experiment.
The rewarding production sustains momentum instead by teasing the brain, tickling the funny bone, and electrifying the nerves with sudden coups de theatre. If Burke and Ireland felt at all like the same person at different stages of a life, our identification with Bee in all her manifestations might be greater. But in all other respects, Shapiro fulfills the tantalizing possibilities of the play. And the design work, especially the set by Todd Rosenthal and sound by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen, is immaculate.
But nothing diverts from the hard truths Bee faces about herself and the world. She ultimately wonders if it might be better to lie. People like Jay might feel better. She might feel better, if she pretended to be nice.
Perhaps Norris wonders the same thing. A Parallelogram squares with his other works, where wit and structural panache bring buoyancy to a dark sense on human selfishness and hypocrisy. Does Norris believe it would be a lie to present characters who learn how to connect honestly and warmly, who make a positive difference?
As the second act progresses, depression becomes a reasonable "solution" to understanding Bee's mental and emotional state. It's also possible the play itself is a writer's provocative, pro-active way of dealing with his own belief that nothing he does may ever make a real difference in the world.
Like Bee 2, Norris seems to have decided it's best to tell what he thinks is the truth. And we're the better for it. You don't have to agree with A Parallelogram's theorems to be dazzled by the way the proof has been worked out.
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A Parallelogram
by Bruce Norris Directed by Anna D. Shapiro Cast: Carlo Albán, Marylouise Burke, Marin Ireland and Tom Irwin Set designer - Todd Rosenthal Costume designer - Alex Jaeger Lighting designer - James F. Ingalls Sound designers - Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen Production stage manager - David S. Franklin Running time - Two hours and ten minutes including one intermission Plays Tuesdays through Sundays until August 18 at the Mark Taper Forum/The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012 (213) 628-2772, www.CenterTheatreGroup.org Reviewed by Jon Magaril |
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