Get ready to have your mind boggled in the most provocative of ways as Actors Co-op tantalizes and challenges audiences with the gripping if frustrating brainteaser that is Lee Blessing’s A Body Of Water.

Things start out straightforward enough (that is if what begins as an Ionesco-like comedy two-hander could ever be called straightforward) with two nameless middle-aged strangers waking up in a stylishly furnished home with no idea where, or more significantly, who they are.

They can see that that they’re surrounded by water on all sides, which leaves open the question of how they got there. Could they have been dropped off by helicopter? Attached to stretchers and lowered by rope?

Then there’s the question of why they’re each clad in an expensive-looking silk robe. And the question of what precisely their relationship might be. She did, after all, wake up next to him in bed, his hand on her breast.

Could there be evidence of their identities in the bedroom they’ve just shared? (A ring perhaps?)

Might a glimpse of each other’s naked body jog some shred of a memory? (A birthmark, scar, or mole pattern, perhaps?)

And things might just proceed in the same comedic théâtre de l’absurde manner were it not for the dramatic introduction of a third character, a 20something woman who’s about to prove herself about as trustworthy as the mysterious couple’s admittedly faulty memories.

Still, if Moss (Bruce Ladd) and Avis (Treva Tegtmeier) have had questions before Wren (Ivy Beech) showed up at their doorstep, aside from their names (discovered in the wallet and purse Wren has presented them with as evidence of their identities), these pale in comparison to the questions that are about to be posed.

Is Wren their daughter? Is she their defense lawyer? Is she a figment of their imaginations?

I’m not sure even playwright Blessing knows the answers to these questions, which is one reason why A Body Of Water proves less satisfying as a piece of writing than it does as a piece of theater, impeccably directed by Nan McNamara and superbly acted by a pair of decades-long Actors Co-op treasures and one of the company’s most gifted younger members.

With the roles of Moss and Avis affording Ladd and Tegtmeier the chance to play both light comedy and heavy drama and Beech cast against character as the hard-edged, hard-hearted Wren, it’s easy to see why each would jump at the chance to play his or her part, and to say that the trio have never been better is as much a compliment to the work they’ve done in seasons past–Ladd’s Beethoven and his James Tyrone, Tegtmeier’s M’Lynn Eatenton and her Lizzie Currie, Beech’s Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie and her Jane Bennet–as it is to the complexly woven, deeply felt, exquisitely rendered characters they’ve brought to life in Actors Co-op’s latest.

Rich Rose’s elegant, mysterious, shades-of-off-white living room set, Andrew Shmedake’s evocative lighting, Nicholas Acciani’s shimmering projections, Paula Higgins’ meticulously chosen costumes, Lori Berg’s just-right properties, and Warren Davis’s mystery-enhancing sound design add up to as exquisite as in-the-round design as any theater, or theatergoer, could hope for.

Last but not least, fight choreographer Richard Soto merits snaps and gasps for one particularly stunning bit of stage violence.

A Body Of Water is produced by Crystal Jackson. Mateo Rudich is assistant scenic designer. Shawna Voragen is stage manager and Katie Lee Merritt is assistant stage manager.

Whether the new ending being debuted at Actors Co-op (actually a couple of new concluding scenes) makes A Body Of Water a better, more satisfying play that it was originally or whether it adds even more layers of confusion to an already mystifying mix is something only those who’ve seen both versions will be able to determine. (Having read the original and seen the revision, I’m not even sure myself.)

What is absolutely certain is that A Body Of Water takes audiences on a ride they’ll be thinking and talking about long after they’ve left Actors Co-op for home. That, and a trio of performances so memorable, even Moss and Avis could scarcely forget them.

Actors Co-op, 1760 N. Gower St., Hollywood.

–Steven Stanley
March 1, 2020
Photos: Larry Sandez

Tags: Actors Co-op, Lee Blessing, Los Angeles Theater Review