THEATER REVIEWS: THE CAR PLAYS
Steven Leigh Morris
LA Weekly, CA
Wednesday, September 13, 2006 – 6:00 pm
Including this week’s picks The Car Plays, San Francisco Mime Troupe
and the Second Annual Latino New Works Festival
THE CAR PLAYS One creative solution for a theater without a space is
to take their show on the road. If there’s no road available, try a
parking lot. That’s what Moving Arts is trying in The Car Plays ,
a distant echo of Wolfskill Theatre Company’s drive-in version of
Marat/Sade , several years ago, in a parking lot for an audience
viewing from their cars and listening via speakers provided by the
theater.
Here 20 plays (of 10 minutes or less) are performed inside 20 cars,
lined up in four rows of five. Though performances run from 6 to
10 p.m., your ticket is good for an hour, or five plays. From the
theater’s foyer, a carhop escorts you to the first vehicle, where
you’ll climb in with one or two passengers.
Stage managers shut the doors until the actors arrive.
I saw a rehearsal for Paul Stein’s "Two Fellas, One Fella." Gary
Marschall and Jon Amirkhan jangled car keys and eventually climbed
in the front seats, bickering about Amirkhan’s crude Armenian taste
and Marschall’s American arrogance. Dialogue revealed they had walked
a considerable distance for this "pick up," which concerned a body
in the trunk; here, things started to turn Tarantino-esque. Moving
Arts promises an experience unlike most, and is truly living up to
its name. Moving Arts at THE STEVE ALLEN THEATER, 4773 Hollywood
Blvd., Hlywd.; Sat., Sept. 16, hourly perfs 6-10 p.m.; $15. (866)
811-4111.