Characters whose eccentricities are carried to the extreme and a plot whose raison d’être escapes me are two reasons why Rogue Machine Theatre’s West Coast Premiere of Will Albery’s Evanston Salt Costs Climbing proves a major disappointment from the playwright and company who gave us one of 2023’s most critically acclaimed box office successes with Heroes Of The Fourth Turning.

An article in the local paper recounting how “relentless winter storms are driving Evanston salt costs to approximately $500,000” would seem to suggest a serious look ahead at the effects of climate change on the 78,000 citizens of Evanston, Illinois, and in particular on the lives of native Illinoisan Peter (Michael Redfield) and Greek émigré Basil (Hugo Armstrong), two mismatched truck drivers charged with salting the local roads.

It’s a misconception quickly dispelled by the duo’s R-rated comic repartee (Peter: Fuck you. Basil: No fuck you haha. Peter: Fuck you. Basil: No fuck you. Peter: Fuck you haha. Basil: No fuck you.) and the realization that what we’ve got here are The Three Stooges minus one, and these two “wild and crazy” guys are only getting started with their oddball behavior.

Basil’s later recounting of last night’s bizarre, nightmarish dream overstays its welcome almost immediately after the Greek-accented Santa Claus look-alike launches into it, and the weirdness is just getting started.

Public Works Assistant Director Jane Maiworm (Lesley Fera) pops by to report the suicide death of the reporter who wrote the aforementioned article, news Peter finds more than a bit coincidental since he himself has been contemplating taking his own life, and he’s not the only one of Evanston Salt Costs Climbing’s cast with a death wish.

On a more positive note, Jane excitedly informs her mopey 20something stepdaughter Jane Jr. (Kaia Gerber) that hope just might be on the horizon for blizzard-plagued Evanston thanks to “permeable paving” technology that could eliminate the need for snowplows and salt, thereby preventing accidents like the one that will soon leave one of the play’s four characters minus a beloved spouse.

What follows are a whole lot of absurdist yuks and existential angst which left this reviewer wondering what I was watching, why I should care, and how much longer it all would last, feelings only heightened when an eleventh-hour two-character scene played serious arrives far too late in the play for me to care.

I certainly can’t fault director Guillermo Cienfuegos or his cast of three accomplished stage vets (an on-fire Armstrong, the as-always engaging Redfield, and an absolutely delightful Fera) playing quirky, and rising film-and-TV star (and supermodel royalty) Gerber makes an impressive stage debut as the endearing but troubled Jane Jr.

 I also can’t fault the latest Rogue Machine Theater design team, in particular scenic designer Mark Mendelson, who’s taken full advantage of the Matrix Theatre’s extra-wide playing area to give us Peter and Basil’s break room, the two Janes’ living room, a centerstage road salt truck, and a last-minute doozy of a surprise, and Michelle Hanzelova-Bierbaur’s projections (including lots and lots of snow) are dazzlers.

Add to this the design mastery of Dan Weingarten (lighting), Christopher Moscatiello (sound), Christine Cover Ferro (costumes), Jenine MacDonald (props), and Tony Valdés (wigs) and you’ve got a production design most playwrights can only dream of.

Evanston Salt Costs Climbing is produced by Justin Okin and John Perrin Flynn. Athena Saxon is associate producer. Casting is by Victoria Hoffman. Paige Simunovich understudies the role of Jane Jr. Meghan Lewis makes a brief, wordless cameo appearance.

Myrna Gawryn is movement director and intimacy coordinator. Rachel Ann Manheimer is stage manager and Saxon is assistant stage manager.

Having been blown away by Will Arbery’s Heroes Of The Fourth Turning, I had only the highest hopes for Evanston Salt Costs Climbing.

Ultimately, however, phenomenal performances and sensational designs can only go so far when a script doesn’t hit the mark, and for me at least, Evanston Salt Costs Climbing is a major miss.

Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles. Through March 8. Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00. Sundays at 3:00. No performance February 10.
www.roguemachinetheatre.org

–Steven Stanley
January 31, 2025
Photos: Jeff Lorch

Tags: Los Angeles Theater Review, Matrix Theatre, Rogue Machine Theatre, Will Arbery