“Eye of the Beholder”
This avant-garde play
is written by Stephen Dietz and directed by Paul Roder. It is playing at their space, 7515 N. Brandon
Ave. (upstairs) at the corner of Lombard (small, free, parking lot across the
street from the theater entrance), through September 23rd. For more information, go to their site at www.twilighttheatercompany.org
As the ole, short
story goes...once there was a man who dreamed he was a butterfly…or was he a
butterfly dreaming he was a man?! The
point being, what do we really know of Reality, or Truth. It depends on your own perception of such
things. I heard recently that the ole
adage that politicians constantly lie is not true. They just have their own version/perception
of what is true/real and what is not…but that’s true of all of us, isn’t it? Police have often said that eyewitnesses are
the most unreliable form of evidence because of, again, different perceptions
of the same scene.
And so, in this
story, we have a man, perhaps by the name of Matthew (Conor J. Nolan), who is
auditioning an actress, perhaps by the name of Lisa (Danyelle Tinker), for the
part of a waitress in a play. But are
they who they seem, as a man has just stepped out of the audience suddenly,
perhaps a director named Adrian (Jay Hash), and insists that the scene be
redone!
And maybe Lisa and
Matthew are married, and in a play together, directed by Adrian. And possibly Adrian and Lisa are having an
affair (or are they?) and wanting to confess.
And maybe their sloppy server, Cory (Rachel Roscoe), in the restaurant
they go to for lunch, is not who she seems…maybe she’s tailing them…or even
familiar with them. And, perhaps, that
other voice from the darkness, Frank (Alicia Turvin), that keeps stopping the
action to discuss the mental state of Matthew, is not who she seems, either….
And did I just reveal
some spoilers…or not? Confused? It’s deliberate, such is the style of this
play. “All the world’s a stage and men
and women merely players….” Like a good mystery, with dozens of plot twists and
turns, it is for the “eye of the beholder,” we, the audience, to decide what is
real and what is not. A very clever
story and worth experiencing, if you like puzzles.
This would be a
difficult story to tell and act by any troupe, but the cast here is all
first-rate and they, and their very accomplished director, have done a
first-rate job with it, too. Nolan,
Tinker and Hash, as the main culprits, keep you guessing throughout, and Roder has a firm hand on keeping things in control, but
just slightly askew, as it should be.
This is definitely
worth seeing for the mystery buffs among you.
If you do choose to see it, please tell them Dennis sent you.
--DJS
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