What I liked
This whole ensemble is just perfect… not a weak link in there – all so damn gifted and delivering characters with fearless honesty. Oh and Levatino might be my favorite actor now.
What I didn't like
It should have been sold out.
My overall impression
Levatino is a beast. He might even be insane…but there is no arguing he is one genius bastard. I mean COME ON. A piece like this isn’t just scribbled willy nilly, it’s the product of both vision and methodical dicipline to both historical research and the craft of playwrighting. I would suggest that anyone who fancies themselves the next Mamet or Pinter, take their heads out of their asses and treat themselves to Meantime At Hojo’s and be humbled by the exciting work is being done by American playwrights today. First off, the dialogue is whip smart and akin to being in a steel dome while bullets ricochet off every curve. I didn’t know where these terms and lingo are coming from as they zipped past my ears, but just as much any the costume piece relies on specificity of design, the nuance of dialogue must be sufficiently accurate in order to transport the audience to another time and place. And boy does it – as if it were taken directly off of some lost surveillance recordings. This play a monster of an undertaking with little patience for coddling the audience or whisking them impatiently from plot point to plot point, instead “Hojos” digs in and throws its words like blows, using banter like currency and allows each character its moment to crack the attic door and let in some unexpected light. The conflict unfolds beautifully in this tale of obsession and hubris as these “professionals” are tested by their past, their allegiances, beliefs and we see how the tangled network of their work in the espionage world brought them to this ill-fated moment in history. They are searchers, on a larger scale. Only the career obsessive and socially ignorant Gordon (played masterfully by Levatino) seems immune to self examination. Hunt (played by the ever-badass Darrett Sanders with his patented dramatic weight) is the perfect veteran foil for the tone-deaf Gordon, and as both men defend their convictions, personal lines are crossed, the humor of their picadillos revealed, higher authority questioned and ultimately history is made.
Don’t miss this show. Seriously. Don’t make me hurt you…
