A dysfunctional family in mourning makes for unexpected holiday hilarity and heart in Jami Brandli’s Through The Eye Of A Needle, a humdinger of a Road Theatre Company World Premiere.

 It would be a Christmas Eve like any other for the New Jersey Keens if 20something Dana were physically present and not haunting the household, if teenage Samantha hadn’t taken to calling herself “S” and weren’t refusing to eat anything but vegan, if someone hadn’t suspiciously “misplaced” breadwinner Larry’s last two paychecks, if Larry’s wife Barbara weren’t staring out into space like a ghost of her former self, and if Pastor Bill hadn’t invited himself and his submissive spouse Shirley over for dinner.

But it’s no ordinary Christmas Eve for this blue-collar family grieving the death of their hospital corpsman daughter in far-off Iraq, and it’s about to get even less ordinary when a knock comes on the door.

 Playwright Brandli takes this setup, one that could just as easily have made for stark, Arthur Miller-style drama, and mines it for laughs (without ever resorting to sitcom setup-and-punch) and well-earned tears (without an iota of “Original Lifetime Movie” schmaltz).

 Like the surprises a multilayered Christmas trifle holds in store (or an onion’s, given the emotional punch of the play’s final scenes), the less you know about what’s to come, the better, which is why I won’t tell you who exactly shows up on the Keens’ doorstep, and I highly suggest you avoid even looking at a cast list till after you’ve given Through The Eye Of A Needle the standing ovation it deserves.

Director Ann Hearn navigates tonal transitions with accomplished finesse, aided by an all-around splendid cast.

Meeghan Holaway and David Gianopoulos reveal how differently grief can manifest itself in a couple suffering the same unimaginable loss while Kaitlin Huwe’s teenage political activism provokes as many laughs as it does smiles of recognition.

 Chet Grissom demonstrates that even a most well-meaning of guests can be the most unwelcome of visitors and Stephanie Erb that demanding wifely obedience can sometimes backfire on the demander.

Kara Hume and Erica Mathlin shine too, the former as someone whose presence is acutely felt even when physically absent, the astonishing latter as someone with the potential to rock worlds and maybe even heal hearts.

 Scenic designer Pete Hickok’s two-story house is precisely the “shell” requested by the playwright not simply to reveal both its inside and out but to reflect the shells of lives lived within its walls, and properties designers Megan Moran and Christine Joëlle have filled it with all the holiday decorations of a Christmas-crazed housewife gone wild.

Mary Jane Miller scores high marks for costumes that fit each character to a T, Derrick McDaniel for lighting that transitions seamlessly from realism to fantasy and back again, David B. Marling for underscoring the action with just-right holiday standards, and food wrangler Samuel Martin Lewis for the biggest bowl of ambrosia you may ever have seen (and some lasagna as well).

 Through The Eye Of A Needle is produced by Mia Fraboni and Tracey Silver. Tom Knickerbocker is assistant director. Rebecca Schoenberg is stage manager and Adam Duarte is assistant stage manager. Andrew Perez is fight coordinator.

Alternate cast Sorel Carradine, Cherish Monique Duke, Brian Graves, Elizabeth Herron, Lizzie Kimball, Melelani Satsuma, and Bart Tangredi perform Thursday nights.

Conventional wisdom would have given Through The Eye Of A Needle a Thanksgiving-through-New Year’s slot, and indeed regional theaters should keep Brandli’s crowd-pleaser in mind for this Christmas and beyond.

Still, the emotions expressed are every bit as raw, as valid, and as healing in springtime as they would be in fall and the laughter generated as needed in April as in December. No matter what the season, Through The Eye Of A Needle is a tears-and-cheers-worthy holiday gift.

The Road on Lankershim, 5108 Lankershim Bl., North Hollywood.
www.roadtheatre.org

–Steven Stanley
April 1, 2018
Photos: Brian M. Cole

ALTERNATE CAST REVIEW:

 Jami Brandli’s Through The Eye Of The Needle proves even more satisfying the second time around. Not only does an alternate cast deliver performances distinct from but every bit as memorable as their main-cast counterparts, audience members familiar with Brandli’s second-act surprises will relish watching for clues planted ever so cleverly along the way.

 Even minus the main cast’s intensive rehearsal process, the alternates deliver the comedic-dramatic goods.

The blue-collar edge that Elizabeth Herron gives Barbara masks oceans of pain in the same way that Bart Tangredi’s equally terrific Larry may present a gruff surface to family and Christmas Eve visitors but hides unbearable grief beneath.

 Sorel Carradine gives Dana a just-right mix of femininity and grit while teen-rebellious “S” is brought to amusing, heartbreaking life by Melelani Satsuma.

 Brian Graves’s holly jolly Pastor Bill is equal parts outward charm and inner smarm opposite real-life spouse Lizzy Kimball, a trippy delight as submissive but ready-to-revolt Shirley.

Last but not least, Cherish Monique Duke not only nails the challenges of a particularly tough role, accent included, but makes subtle, effective choices when finally free of the need to hide.

I concluded my initial review of Jami Brandli’s crowd-pleaser with the words “No matter what the season, Through The Eye Of A Needle is a tears-and-cheers-worthy holiday gift,” to which I can now add that it’s a Christmas present even better when re-gifted.

–Steven Stanley
May 3, 2018

Tags: Jami Brandli, Los Angeles Theater Review, The Road Theatre Company