SCINTILLA


A grown son’s visit to his semi-estranged mother’s woodsy abode soon turns into a matter of life or death as a raging forest fire advances in their direction in Scintilla, Alessandro Camon’s gripping, suspenseful gut-puncher of a Road Theatre Company World Premiere.

30something Michael’s (Kris Frost) relationship with his widowed mom Marianne (Taylor Gilbert) may well be every bit as “fucked up” as he describes it to his girlfriend Nora (Krisha Smitha), but with 60-miles-per-hour winds blowing flames Marianne’s way (and his mother in the very early stages of Alzheimer’s), Michael’s first and only priority today is ensuring her safety.

Once arrived, however, Michael and Nora quickly realize that Marianne has no intention of evacuating. There is, she reminds them, a river between Glenwood and Golden Valley, and next to the river, a highway. In other words, Marianne assures Michael, there’s no way flames are going to jump them both.

Besides, she adds, if anything were to happen, she can always call her Vietnam-vet neighbor Stanley (David Gianopoulos), whose ears must have been twitching at the mention of his name because before you know it, there he is at Marianne’s door.

Stanley quickly disabuses Michael of the notion that he, Stanley, might help persuade Marianne to beat a hasty retreat. If worse comes to worst, she can always join him at his steel-encased house nearby. “Got fire-resistant shingles, sprinklers, flame retardant,” not to mention a bunker.

And if this weren’t already enough to raise red flags with Michael, who should suddenly arrive but Marianne’s occasional odd-job man Roberto (Carlos Lacámara), bruised and bloody from a one-against-six scuffle with locals who attacked him simply for being one of “the homeless” they hold responsible for starting fires, inadvertently or not.

What prompted Stanley to build himself a bunker equipped with a generator, a ham radio, and food supplies for five years? How did Roberto go from riding the rails at age thirteen to an apartment in San Francisco to houselessness? And above all, will Michael be able to persuade his intransigent mother to flee for his life?

These are just some questions that kept me on the edge of my seat for every one of Scintilla’s compelling eighty minutes, most of them unfolding in real time.

Add to that the hot-button issues raised by its characters, tops among them the wisdom of building entire communities amidst forests and shrub that are “meant to burn, so they can regrow,” the escalating suspense as fire threatens to engulf them all, and the meaty roles playwright Camon has given all five actors and you’ve got yet another Road Theatre Company stunner.

Director Ann Hearn Tobolowsky knows precisely how to ratchet up the tension as the minutes tick by, eliciting five absolutely terrific performances, from Frost’s angry, conflicted son to Smitha’s caring peace-keeper of a girlfriend to Lacámara’s multifaceted take on a man whose outward appearance is indeed deceiving.

As for the play’s two meatiest roles, Gilbert’s dynamic, devastating star turn as a woman with a mind of her own (no matter that she may be losing it bit by bit) proves one of her most memorable, and a revelatory Gianopolous positively vanishes into the grizzled, gravel-voiced Stanley (and delivers a doozy of a monolog to spellbinding effect).

Last but not least, a world-class design team once again reveals why Road Theatre productions are second-to-none, from Stephen Gifford’s spacious rustic home with its lush green backdrop, to Ben Rock’s widescreen “on the road” rear projections, to Derrick McDaniel’s increasingly dramatic lighting design and Christopher Moscatiello’s equally suspense-enhancing sound design), to Ivy Khan’s pitch-perfect props, to Jenna Bergstraesser’s just right costumes.

Scintilla is produced by Danna Hyams and Suzanne Warren. Maurie Gonzalez is production stage manager. Darryl Johnson is production coordinator.

Alternate cast members Blaire Chandler, Lance Guest, Wali Habib, Elsha Kim, and William L. Warren have their own dedicated performance dates.

Even a pandemic couldn’t stop the Road Theatre Company from producing fully-staged-and-designed productions in early 2021, albeit for a virtual audience, and they’ve been on a roll since their return to live programming in March of last year.

Considering the long line of winners in the company’s thirty-year history, it’s high praise indeed to say that Scintilla is one of the Road’s absolute best.

The Road Theatre, NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood.
www.RoadTheatre.org

–Steven Stanley
April 23, 2023
Photos: Peggy McCartha


ALTERNATE CAST REVIEW:

 A play as sensational as Alessandro Camon’s Scintilla more than merits a return visit, and given the opportunity to see an entirely new set of actors sink their teeth into roles already performed to perfection by the show’s main cast can prove irresistible, particularly when the Alternate Cast is as superb as the one assembled by director Ann Hearn Tobolowsky.

Blaire Chandler is a veritable force of nature as Marianne, a role she invests with equal parts fierceness, earthiness and balls.

Lance Guest does first-rate work as a Grizzly Adams-like Stanley, and  Wali Habib’s resolutely uptight Michael, Elsha Kim’s radiant, caring Nora, and William L. Warren’s ragged, robust Roberto are all three terrific too.

If nothing else, the Scintilla alternates make it abundantly clear just how much talent there is at the Road, more than enough to double the satisfaction of a fabulous play done fabulously well.

I’m so glad I went back for more.

–Steven Stanley
May 25, 2023
Photos 2, 3, 4: Andre Barron

 

 

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