Sparks fly, terrors are confronted, and truths are revealed to powerful effect when an African-American social media activist opens her door to a stranger in the World Premiere of Inda Craig Galván’s A Hit Dog Will Holler, a Playwrights Arena/Skylight Theatre Company co-production at the Skylight.

It’s February of 2020, and for suburban Chicago resident Gina (Cheri Vandenheuvel), news of a virus called Corona and a President called Trump is overshadowed by yesterday’s police shooting of an African-American teen in Grand Rapids and the latest Confederate statue toppling by a black activist known only as DruCDru.

Then comes a knock on the door, and when Gina’s regular delivery man Murray keeps ignoring her instructions to leave the food she’s ordered and move on to his next stop, she has no choice but to open the door.

Only one problem, it’s not Murray bearing food but a hoodie-sporting young black woman (Donna Simone Johnson, who shares the role with Kacie Rogers).

Make that two problems, since when Gina opens the door, she is met by a cacophony of such deafening sound and blinding light, you might think all hell had broken loose on her quiet Hyde Park street.

Once Murray’s replacement is safe inside Gina’s now gratifyingly tranquil abode, the two women’s easy banter suggests an unlikely friendship being forged, which is why it comes as an unpleasant surprise when Gina realizes that her visitor has stolen one of her paintings before heading on to her next delivery.

Who is Gina’s mysterious visitor and what are the terrors that appear to be lurking just outside her peaceful upscale home?

These are just two of the questions about to be answered in Galván’s politically charged ninety-minute two-hander.

Suffice it to say that Gina and her visitor turn out to be considerably more alike than initially meets the eye, and will have even more in common by the time A Hit Dog Will Holler reaches its dynamite grand finale.

Is Gina’s condition an actual anxiety disorder is it a metaphor for something more insidious? Might it even be a condition as contagious as the virus that’s begun to rear its ugly head across the country, a visceral physical reaction to the violence perpetrated against African Americans on a daily basis?

If Galván’s detours into magic realism and symbolism don’t particularly work for me, it’s also true that the more an audience member has in common with A Hit Dog Will Holler’s two protagonists, the more impactful it is likely to be. (It’s probably for this reason that two performance dates—November 14 and December 6—have been designated “Blackout: Black Communities Performances.”)

If nothing else, A Hit Dog Will Holler merits seeing if only to experience the powerhouse work being done by two masterful actors in perfect sync under Jon Lawrence Rivera’s incisive direction.

Vandenheuvel, who has never been less than magnificent, once again commands the stage as a woman making the best of a bad situation, even if it means posing in front of a green screen from time to time.

Johnson, matching her I Go Somewhere Else costar every step of the way, vanishes into another woman’s hard-edged but passionate, compassionate skin to indelible effect.

Together, the two women ignite the Skylight Theatre stage on scenic designer Jan Munroe’s impressive living room set, meticulously appointed by properties designer Lily Bartenstein and lit to both realistic and nightmarish effect by Matt Richter, with Howard Ho’s dramatic sound design upping the impact every step of the way and Mylette Nora’s costumes reflecting exactly who each woman is.

 A Hit Dog Will Holler is produced by Gary Grossman and Rivera. Cedes Sifuentes and Rebecca Tessier are associate producers.

Crystal Hui is production stage manager. Ben Altman was rehearsal stage manager. Ann James is sensitivity specialist. Judith Borne is publicist. Casting is by Raul Clayton Staggs.

A Hit Dog Will Holler opens a first-time-ever collaborative four-play-season by two of L.A.’s premier intimate theater companies whose shared missions make for an ideal partnership. If the season opener is any indication, it looks to be an exciting year ahead for Skylight Theatre Company and Playwrights’ Arena.

Skylight Theatre, 1816 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles.
www.skylighttheatrecompany.com
www.playwrightsarena.org

–Steven Stanley
November 12, 2021
Photos: Kelly Stuart

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Tags: Inda Craig-Galván, Los Angeles Theater Review, Playwrights' Arena, Skylight Theatre Company