What is it about human nature that makes us so curious about what goes on with other people? For instance, just how often have you wondered what is going on next door or have put your ear to the wall hoping to hear whatever it is you think might be going on other the other side? Human nature’s “Need to Know” is being examined in the World Premiere of a play by that name, written by Jonathan Caren now onstage at Rogue Machine.
The group’s artistic director, John Perrin Flynn, who co-produces the show with Matthew Elkins, shares “What will happen when nothing can be kept private? The change has already begun as we know more about the personal lives of our leaders and celebrities than we do about our friends.”
With ever-present investigative news and social media, has Big Brother really arrived?
“Need to Know” takes place in a very intimate theater setting where the audience is literally on the stage with the actors. It is here that we meet Lilly and Steven (Corryn Cummins and Lucas Near-Verbrugghe) who are smart, talented and charming. Their recent move from Los Angeles to New York seems to be going well, adding new apartment companions Lindsay and Fred, two overly amorous goldfish.
But when they meet their next-door neighbor Mark Manners (Tim Cummings), an aspiring fiction writer and longtime tenant of the building, he seems a bit creepy, asking very personal questions about their lives anytime he stops by for an uninvited visit, causing Lilly and Steven to wonder why Mark feels the need to know so much about them.
To even things out, the couple proceeds to Google-stalk Mark, having a field day mocking his website – until they hear him react to something they said and realize the walls are paper-thin. Has he heard everything they have said about him?
Should they tell him they know he can hear them? And why is it they never hear anything from Mark’s apartment? Is he just sitting there listening in? Trying to offset even bigger problems, they attempt to resolve the newfound awkwardness, but tensions escalate in ways none of them could ever have predicted.
All three actors realistically portray their characters without pushing too far into caricature. This is especially true for Tim Cummings who underplays Mark’s creepiness in a way that makes his curiosity seem completely normal and not based in evil. Since he wants to be a writer, perhaps he is just interested in observing and learning.
Or is it really his isolated loneliness and lack of social skills that fuels his need to insinuate himself into his neighbors’ lives? Cummins and Near-Verbrugghe allow the quick build of their paranoia to seem totally appropriate, especially when Mark’s seemingly helpful actions lead to unexpected and unwanted results in their lives.
Directed by Bart DeLorenzo with much insight into human nature and our foibles, the play runs at breakneck speed without an intermission, which often enhances the growing frustration and fear brewing between the neighbors.
You will walk out thinking about people you know who share the most intimate details about their private lives with strangers online and when did the need for personal privacy end? If Big Brother is really watching, have we just casually let him in? Or is the whole idea just paranoia? Interesting questions posed by this tantalizing new play.
Rogue Machine presents the World Premiere of “Need to Know” by Jonathan Caren, continuing at 5 p.m. Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays, and 8 p.m. Mondays through Dec. 13. Rogue Machine is located at 5041 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. Tickets are $30-$35 and can be reserved at 855-585-5185 or at www.roguemachinetheatre.com
