My overall impression
In “Cycles”, a young jock on the make and an older man meet at a gym. By the time this entertaining play ends fifty minutes later, what begins as a “chance” encounter, full of witty and casual banter and bon hommie, credibly—and relentlessly—ends explosively in a moment of raw emotional power and heartbreaking pathos.
Playwright Robert Litz’ gift for dialogue is witty, sparkling, terse—and deviously menacing; its subtext, though never too far below the surface, keeps digging deeper until we become privileged to peek not just into the characters’ souls, but the actors’ as well. Alan Rosenberg and Dominic Rains mine it for all its worth. Given the terrific dialogue and interesting characters, both actors communicate something beyond play and characterizations: the joy of being actors and communicating with the audience. They seem to understand that their characters’ psychology is rooted in the real, material world, not on ideas divorced from their social reality.
The play is much more than a tale of vengeance and resentments accumulated over a lifetime. By the time it has reached its end, it has said much about the economy, the real estate industry, business practices, and yes, that unmentionable of American theater: class warfare.
This one-acter says more about us and social life than most longer plays manage to say in two or three acts. Kudos to the director, Stefan Lysenko.
Highly recommended. Has got to be among the finest plays at the festival.
Raoul N. Rizik
