PRESS REVIEW

RISE

Paul Birchall – LA Weekly – GO!
First time playwright Cal Barnes’s fierce drama – an auspicious theatrical debut — explores the sometimes vague difference between seeking redemption and living in denial. A young, kindly intentioned preacher (Brett Colbeth) counsels a troubled young woman (Gowrie Hayden), and, while at first he can’t understand her inexplicable venomous attitude towards him, she gradually reveals dark and dreadful past events that linked the pair. Barnes’s writing possesses a thoughtful maturity that meshes good, evocative dialogue with a nuanced sense of philosophical ambiguity. Director Aaron Lyons’s production is feverishly intense, with the stage almost not being big enough to contain Hayden and Colbeth’s crackling chemistry. The evolution of Colbeth’s character – by the end, he resembles nothing of the figure he was in the play’s opening scenes – is particularly masterful. Zenith Ensemble at Theatre Asylum, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd, Hlywd.; Sat., June 16, 10 p.m.; Tues., June 19, 8:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., June 22-23, 8:30 p.m.; Sun., June 24, 4 p.m. (310) 902-3142. hollywoodfringe.org/projects/​744