I've been an Actor's Co-Op subscriber for about 10 years. Located on the
campus of Hollywood Presbyterian Church, the Co-Op's two theaters and
its wonderfully talented company of actors have given me some of the
best theatergoing experiences of the past decade.

Although technically "between seasons," the Co-Op remains currently
alive with great theater in their current Co-Op, Too! production of
Michael V. Gazzo's rarely performed 1955 drama A Hatful of Rain.

Actor's Co-Op calls itself "the first Christian-based professional theater
company in the United States", but that doesn't mean that their
productions are bland, or any less dramatic (or hilarious) or
discussion-provoking than any of the many other fine theatrical troupes in
the L.A. area. One of my all time favorite Co-Op productions was Lights,
which was about a traditional working class Catholic family dealing with
their daughter's conversion to Judaism (which ended with a curtain line in
which one of the son's came out to his parents). And the just closed
musical Tales of Tinseltown featured a heroine who slept around and got
pregnant, leading to all sorts of delightful mayhem.

Still, nothing the Co-Op has done before equals A Hatful of Rain in terms of
stark drama and real issues concerning our society. You see, Hatful is
about drug addition, specifically about Johnny Pope, a Korean War vet
whose heroin addition to is a secret he has kept from his wife Celia for two
years. In order to get off drugs, Johnny must first "come out" to Celia as an
addict, and it is as much his struggle to do this as to kick the habit that
makes up the drama of the play. Dark subject matter to be sure, but the
Co-Op does not flinch from depicting it with harrowing realism.

Credit Co-Op company member Rebecca Hayes for finding this play and
making sure it got done...and done right. As Hatful's director, Hayes (an
actor herself) has elicited magnificent performances from her cast.

I've seen John Allsopp in maybe 10 Co-Op productions, playing
everything from Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees to Chris Keller in All My Sons,
but never has he been better, more intense, or more powerful. Heather
Chesley was cute in the Co-Op's "jolly old England" Christmas bonus
production a couple years ago, and charming in their Much Ado About
Nothing, but her previous work did not prepare me for her wrenching
performance in Hatful. Her Celia is a tough, loving wife, torn between her
devotion to Johnny and her certainty that there is a another woman in
his life. (This being the innocent 1950s, it never occurs to her that the other
woman is named addiction.) Chesley gives a raw and riveting
performance. David Atkinson also does fine work as Johnny's n'er do well
father, and among the quartet of dealer/addict druggies (Louis Tucker,
Rocky Bonifield, Scott Wordham, Laura Manchester, all very good),
Bonifield is a standout. Check out her girl next door headshot and
compare it with her stringy haired (and scary!) performance as Apples (a
part originally played by a man) and be amazed at the power of actors
to tranform themselves. Finally, in the role that made Anthony Franciosa a
star and won him Tony and Oscar nominations, there is similarly
stardom-bound Toby Meuli as Polo, Johnny's badboy brother whose both
helped Johnny to kick his addition and later enabled him financially to
become re-addicted. Meuli combines a Sean Penn intensity with "the CW"
(formerly "the WB")-ready looks to give a performance that like Allsopp's,
Chesley's, and Atkinson's, could easily be award nominated.

And there's the rub. Actors Co-Op does not submit Co-Op, Too!
productions for review by the Times, the Weekly, Backstage West, and
other publications, thereby denying the actors, director, and production
itself the raves which this one most certainly deserves, and of course
without being seen by reviewers, there can be no nominations or awards.
This is a policy which should I believe be revisited and changed.

Fortunately, the production, originally set to play only in May, has been
extended through mid-July (playing most but not all Saturday evenings
and Sunday matinees). Call (323) 462-8460 for reservations. (It's only $10!)

--Steven Stanley