What I liked
Lisa D’Amour’s 2013 Obie Award winning drama finally gets its L.A. premiere in a whip-smart production by the Last Acting Studio and Nothing Ever Happens Productions at the Actors Company. Featuring production values unusually high for the Fringe, two inner-ring suburban backyards—one a well-furnished patio, the other a deck fallen in pieces—set the stage for D’Amour’s play about class and identity. The patio is attached to the home of Ben and Mary, a couple on the cusp of middle age who’s relationship has eroded into a monotony they’re barely aware of and neither can name. Into the nearly abandoned house next door move Kenny and Sharon, young, broke and fresh out of rehab. In accelerating scenes, friendships grow between the couples conventionally, awkwardly and then rapidly. The standouts in a solid cast are Tori La Desma, who targets Mary’s loneliness and ennui early and expands it beautifully, and Allie-Rae Treharne, who takes Sharon’s wild partier and finds in her a savvy judge of character with an empathy for knowing what others need. Vance Smith’s direction is nimble and resourceful. It’s also a pleasure to see a long time veteran of L.A. theatre return to the boards in an uncredited cameo.
What I didn't like
The Actors Company theater has cinder block walls which create numerous echoes and sometimes swallow the actors’ dialogue. Some acoustic dampening (drapes? simple black drapes?) in the venue would be a big help.
My overall impression
DETROIT is easily one of the Top Five dramas in the this year’s Hollywood Fringe. It may be one of the Top Ten Los Angeles intimate theatre productions of the 2023.
