@PLAYAZ


A trio of adult gamers face post-lockdown challenges in Dana Schwartz’s engaging World Premiere comedy @Playaz, a play so of-the-moment it seems incredible that the 2019 O’Neill Finalist was originally written pre-Covid.

Longtime besties Alan (Justin Huen) and Charlie (Brandon Bales) have spent the past thirty years playing video games, all the way back to Centipede and Pacman, and the past year and a half has seen them establish an online presence that has already garnered a substantial 100,000 subscribers, many of whom are tweens and teens who “needed normal” when life as they’d known it suddenly came to a halt.

Now, joined by Millennial Joe (Dustin Green), aka The Best Gamer They Know, the two Gen X-ers’ upcoming live tournament seems likely to add to those numbers.

In the meantime, Alan’s been texting occupational therapist Dana (Amy Dellagiarino), and with the latter about to visit L.A. on business, who knows what that might lead to?

There is the not so tiny matter of Alan’s having been married to Charlie’s twin sister Maddie, whose death affected both of them in the profoundest of ways, but life goes on, and with the world beginning to reemerge after eighteen months of isolation, it seems only fair that Alan should be given a second chance at love.

Not much “happens” during @Playaz 90-minute running time, though there is one of the laugh-out-loud funniest fist fights I’ve ever seen on stage (kudos to fight choreographer Marc Antonio Pritchett and the two actors who get to exchange punches).

What matters most are the relationships playwright Schwartz, @Playaz’s protagonists, and master director Darin Anthony develop along the way.

And with one of the characters dealing with the lingering effects of long Covid, another monologuing about how much he loved lockdown, and the various ways the past two years have affected each of their lives, @Playaz seems to have been written yesterday, and not, in its original form, back when Corona was just a Mexican beer.

Huen couldn’t be better as a hospitalist for whom a potential 300,000 subscribers might mean finally establishing his own private practice, and the meaty role Schwartz has given him lets the always impressive Huen dig particularly deep.

Bales is absolutely terrific too, and the relationship he and Huen establish seems so authentically close, the two friends could probably finish each other’s sentences.

Green’s L.A. stage debut reveals abundant talent and charisma portending big things ahead, and Dellagiarino adds a welcome feminine voice to the mix.

Huen shines doubly as scenic/lighting designer, with additional design kudos earned by sound designer Warren Davis (who gets bonus points for his video game effects) and scene transition music composer Chris Garner.

I can’t, unfortunately, evaluate Veronica Mullins Bowers’ projection design, so integral to the production, given a series of Opening Night glitches that had entire segments missing and projected texts and comments out of focus.

@Playaz is produced by Cece Tio. Tintin Nguyen is stage manager. David Elzer is publicist.

The last time I saw a Dana Schwartz play, her protagonists were a couple of 70something widows on an ocean cruise, a far cry from the macho trio she’s written about this time round. (Talk about versatility.)

In both instances I found myself thoroughly engaged and invested in the lives she allows us to glimpse. Even with its Opening Night mishaps, @Playaz makes for one entertaining, satisfying ride.

Atwater Playhouse, 3191 Casitas Avenue, Ste. 100, Los Angeles.
www.movingarts.org

–Steven Stanley
November 13, 2021
Photos: Jill Bennett

 

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Atwater Playhouse is an intimate 45-seat theater. Our staff and artists are fully vaccinated. The artists will not be masked while performing. Please be aware, their performance area extends into the audience seating area.

All audience members are required to be fully vaccinated and remain masked while indoors, in order to attend performances. We do not offer socially distanced seating. We encourage you to maintain social distancing indoors when not seated.

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If you cannot access your proof of vaccination when you arrive, you can visit our Box Office for an immediate date exchange, subject to availability, free of charge.

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