The Reservoir is a sharply funny and deeply heartfelt new play by Jake Brasch about family, memory, and healing, now at the Geffen Playhouse through July 20. Think of it as a 21st Century Neil Simon comedy about a dysfunctional yet loving Jewish family in which grandson Josh’s life is spiraling due to his inability to stop drinking. He can’t hold down a job or manage to stay in school or rehab. But luckily, his grandparents are there to help. And by help, I mean offering unsolicited advice, relentlessly judging his life choices, bringing up their own mortality over coffee, and dragging him to Jazzercise class at the JCC to help him get his life in shape.
Taking place in Denver from 2013-2015, from Grandma Bev’s (firecracker Liz Larsen) previous life as an electrical engineer whose no-nonsense tough love makes a real difference after Josh accepts her help, to Grandpa Shrimpy’s (Lee Wilkof) wildly inappropriate jokes, Nana Irene (Carolyn Mignini) slipping away due to dementia, and Grandpa Hank’s (Geoffrey Wade) lingering resentment of his life wasting away, the four rally and act out situations as if teenagers themselves, often stealing the show with their antics. And maybe, just maybe, they can help Josh find his way by sharing exactly how they managed to live their lives to the fullest after overcoming their own demons.
But when things get too difficult to face, there’s always Nana Irene’s famous cookies to bring sweetness back into their lives. That is until Josh decides to buy some real vanilla extract to make them and falls off the wagon drinking the entire bottle, which typically contains 35% alcohol by volume. Luckily, his grandparents come to his rescue in the bathroom, but it’s too late since he is already drunk. What could possibly have made him fall off the wagon after a year of sobriety? You know I’m not going to tell you!
Jake Horowitz perfectly inhabits the struggling theater student at NYU who is on medical leave from school due to his struggles with alcoholism. He realistically shares Josh’s emotional roller coaster ride as it swoops him down to the depths of despair and then up to the joy of staying sober for a year. Along the way, Josh holds down a job in his mother’s bookstore under the supervision of its manager, Hugo (handsome Adrián González), who has his own troubling hidden life to contend with while trying to make sure Josh is really working and not just hiding or reading somewhere in the shelves. And since Josh believes he can only file books by their smell since alphabetical shelving confuses him, poor underpaid Hugo must shoulder all the work. Thankfully, Hugo reveals the power of AA meetings may be just what Josh needs to stop drinking and takes him to a meeting. But can Josh really stay sober?
During his 10-step program, Josh attempts to apologize to his family for all the mistakes he made while drinking, including losing track of time, neglecting responsibilities, and experiencing negative consequences to his actions. Many poignant memories are shared throughout Josh’s journey to sobriety, including when he came out to his mother and grandparents while he was in high school, or how he mistreated the family dog during an early bender. But ultimately, it just may be the reservoir of knowledge from his grandparents’ lives that sets Josh on the right path.
Marin Hinkle takes on several roles, from Josh’s tough-love mother Patricia who struggles to let him live back home after his latest bender gets him thrown out of Harmony House, to a Jazzercise instructor who keeps Grandma Bev in tip top shape. She lends a real sense of sorrow and failure when dealing with Josh’s relapses as well as an energetic physical presence who brings real joy to seniors trying to stay healthy and feeling much younger than their years.
Kudos to the outstanding production team, especially Scenic Designer Takeshi Kata and Lighting Designer Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew for creating movable set pieces and concentric squares of light to outline scenes as they move into place. Costume Designer Sara Ryung Clement effectively creates age-appropriate outfits, and Sound Designer & Composer Michael Costagliola fills the theater with time-period songs and emotionally energized sounds to focus attention on the triumphs and tribulations of daily life over the years.
Produced in partnership with Denver Center for the Performing Arts & Alliance Theatre, Geffen Playhouse is presenting Jake Brasch’s new play The Reservoir through July 20, brilliantly directed by Shelley Butler, who has expertly directed and developed work nationwide. No doubt this innovative new play about family, memory, and healing will become a new classic reminding us to connect with what’s real before it’s too late.
Performances continue Wednesday – Friday 8 p.m., Saturday 3 and 8 p.m., and Sunday 2 and 7 p.m., with an added performance on Tuesday, July 15 at 8 p.m. Dark on Thursday, July 3 and Friday, July 4 in the Gil Cates Theater at Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles 90024. Run time is 2 hours and 15 minutes, including one intermission. This production contains mature content and profanity. Age Recommendation: 12+. All Geffen Playhouse productions are intended for an adult audience; children under 10 years of age will not be admitted. Strobe lighting effects • Loud sound effects. Tickets start at $36, available by phone at 310.208.2028 or online at www.geffenplayhouse.org. Complimentary tickets for patrons impacted by LA wildfires.
Rogue Machine is presenting the West Coast premiere of Nice Girl written by Melissa Ross and poignantly directed by Ann Bronson to reveal deep-seated emotions in and between the play’s four characters, while keeping secrets from being exposed until you have been pulled into and expecting a very different outcome. The play takes place in suburban Massachusetts in 1984, a time when women were coming into their own ability to live their lives independently while playing the field the same way as men. But what if that equality leads to even more distancing between people?
The story centers around thirty-seven-year-old Josephine Rosen (the dazzling Anaïs Fairweather) who has a dead-end job, still lives with her mother, and has settled into the uncomfortable “nice girl” comfort of an unintended spinsterhood, which embarrasses her into never going out socially for fear of how others look at her. But with her 20th high school reunion coming up, and being encouraged by her overbearing mother Francine (the always nightgown-clad and comfortable in-her-skin Susan Peahl) to find the perfect man to marry, a chance flirtation Jo’s old classmate Donny, a very likeable and equally shy butcher (tall drink-of-water Jeff Lorch), and a new friendship at work with big-hearted and popular party girl Sherry (luminous Bailey Humiston with perfect Farrah Fawcett hair), Jo believes she has hope for the possibility of change. And thanks to Sherry, Jo steps out to a local singles bar, dusts off the Jane Fonda tapes, and begins to take tentative steps towards a new life.
But just as you think everything is working out perfectly for all involved, Ross’ cunning and exceedingly well-written script, performed on the upstairs and intimate Henry Murray Stage at the Matrix Theatre, brings focus to the tragedy and joy of figuring out who you are and letting go of who you were supposed to be. Of course, there are many twists and turns I will not reveal so you can be just as surprised as I was when secrets are revealed affecting each of the characters and their relationships.
Kudos to superior technical team contributors: Barbara Kallir (Scenic and Lighting Design), Christopher Moscatiello (Sound Design), Christine Cover Ferro (character and time-period perfect Costume Design), Lauren Lovett (Dialect Coach), Grant Gerrard (Technical Director), Victoria Hoffman (Casting), Rachel Frost (Assistant Director), and Rachel Manheimer (Production Stage Manager).
Produced for Rogue Machine by Lexi Sloan, Guillermo Cienfuegos, Athena Saxon with Associate Producer Chisom Okoye, Nice Girl runs at 8 p.m. Fridays and Mondays; 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through July 20 (dark July 4) at the Matrix Theatre, upstairs on the Henry Murray Stage, at 7657 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles 90046. Tickets are $45 – $60; Seniors: $35; Students with ID: $25. Shows4Less on Saturday, July 5 ($25+). Street parking only, so arrive early. Run time is approximately 2 hours (includes one intermission). Mature language and situations. Info about scheduled after-show gatherings to “spill the tea” with special guests and cast members, and reservations at https://www.roguemachinetheatre.org/, or for more information, call 855-585-5185.