All hell breaks loose in an Indiana town when a swastika is found spray-painted on a classroom bulletin board celebrating the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in Erik Gernand’s The Totality Of All Things, a discussion-provoking,  expectations-defying, Road Theatre Company West Coast Premiere.

 There’s no more committed teacher, or tougher grader, than Judith Benson (Christina Carlisi), nor is there anyone more dedicated to the pursuit of truth, of actual provable facts, than Ms. Benson, and if that bothers you, or you are hoping for an easy passing grade, you’d better drop her Journalism class or live to regret it.

Not only that, but anyone in Lewiston, Indiana, who expects Judith to adhere to school board directives if they get in in the way of truth had better lower their expectations pronto as evidenced by the now defaced bulletin board, whose pro-LGBTQ message is precisely what the board was worried about when they banned “controversial gender or sexuality opinions in the classroom.”

Principal Benson (Carlos Lacámara) chalks the vandalism up to stupidity, not Nazism, and solves the immediate problem by covering the offending bulletin board with a canvas sheet and referring to the hate crime as nothing more than “an unfortunate incident in room 107.”

Still, it’s clear from the get-go that this won’t be the end of it.

 History teacher DeeAnn (Meeghan Holaway) tries to be as supportive as a best friend on the opposite side of the political spectrum can be, and so do history teacher (and part-time church youth pastor) Gregg (Gabriel Palma) and Judith’s student teacher Ms. Carter (Gloria Ines), though none of them probably expects Judith to back down.

 Instead, the journalism teacher virtually orders student reporter Micah (Victor Kallett) to cover the still unfolding events for the school paper, an assignment that wouldn’t be nearly as risky for the 16-year-old were he himself not a closeted gay boy who’s only come out to one person so far, i.e. Ms. Benson.

If Judith has made an initially positive impression on progressively-minded theatergoers, her willful ignorance of the consequences that writing a pro-LGBT article might have on an at-risk teen like Micah is the first indication that playwright Gernand will be eschewing “liberal are good, conservatives are bad” clichés, and indeed what makes The Totality Of All Things so out-of-the-ordinary is not just the way its writer manages to sprinkle in more than a few laughs amidst the edgy drama, it is that even if you side with Judith politically, it’s a whole lot easier to actually like those on the other side, particularly DeeAnn, as warm and nurturing as Judith is caustic and brittle.

 And things are only beginning to heat up in this small, conservative Indiana town.

Director Taylor Nichols does an outstanding job eliciting riveting, multi-shaded performances from an all-around splendid cast.

Carlisi, so hilarious in last year’s Mercury, is every bit as effective in taking Judith from exacting to intransigent opposite her fabulous Mercury costar Holoway’s cheery Midwest mom, a woman far more willing to at least try to understand “the other side” than Judith.

Ines’s pitch-perfectly perky Ms. Carter reveals her own hard edges along the way, Palma is terrific too as all-around good guy Gregg, Lacámara does fine work as a high school principal caught between a rock and a hard place, and 21-year-old Kallett makes a stunning professional stage debut as a vulnerable kid whose life could well be about to spin out of control.

Scenic designer Mia Okada’s just-right high school classroom set morphs ingeniously (with the help of projections designer Ben Rock) into a local drinking establishment, a football stadium and more, with lighting designer Derrick McDaniel doing his usual bang-up job as Jenna Bergstraesser’s Midwesterners’ costumes, Scottie Nevil’s school-related properties, and David B. Marling’s suspense-enhancing sound design complete a Grade-A production design.

The Totality Of All Things is produced by Taylor Gilbert and Danna Hyams. Cathleen Dunn is assistant director. Maurie Gonzalez is stage manager. David Elzer is publicist.

Alternate cast members Billy Baker, Devin Davis-Lorton, David Gianopoulos, Liz Herron, Karrie King, and Rick Shattuck have their own dedicated performance dates.

Anyone concerned that Erik Gernand’s The Totality Of All Things will be yet another audience-alienating political polemic can rest assured. Road Theatre Company’s latest winner is far too savvy for that.

The Road Theatre, NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood. Through May 25. Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00. Sundays at 2:00. Alternate cast performances May 13, 14, and 15 at 8:00.
www.RoadTheatre.org

–Steven Stanley
April 18, 202
Photos: Elizabeth Kimball

Tags: Erik Gernand, Los Angeles Theater Review, The Road Theatre Company