My overall impression
WILLARD MANUS, Total Theater
Robert Litz’s powerful one-act play, Cycles, was one of the finest things I’ve seen at the 2012 Hollywood Fringe. Set in a Boston Fitness Club, Cyclespits Jake (Alan Rosenberg) and Buzz (Dominic Rains) against each other in a swiftly unfolding battle not just for dominance but survival.
Jake and Buzz are obvious opposites: the former is an elderly, wisecracking Jew who hates exercise; the latter is a young, intense Italian who trains like a fanatic. But Litz digs deep and comes up with the essential differences between them — life and death differences.
It turns out that Jake, a successful real-estate entrepreneur, owned the small house Buzz grew up in — a house that suddenly went up in flames, taking the life of Buzz’s mother. Had Jake torched the house to collect on the insurance? Is Buzz justified in wanting to avenge his mother’s death here in the club’s bike room?
These are just a couple of the things at stake in Cycles, things which are fought over in take-no-prisoners fashion. The dynamic actors, Litz’s pungent dialogue, and Lysenko’s skillful direction combine to make Cycles the exciting, praiseworthy drama it is.
