West Hollywood, California (Thursday, July 2, 2009) – What do you do when you die and go, well, who knows, and find yourself, a straight guy, among the icons making up the gay canon? 
Carved in Stone cast: Jesse Merlin as Oscar Wilde; Levi Damione as Gryphon Tott; Leon Acord as Quentin Crisp; Kevin Remington as Truman Capote; and Curt Bonnem as Tennessee Williams. WeHo News. |
Coming south to Los Angeles after a successful San Francisco run, “Carved In Stone,” a play pitting the overtly gay wits of Quentin Crisp, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams and Oscar Wilde, attempts to answer that query at Theater Asylum in the Hollywood Theater District.
Hilarious while intellectually engaging, the play posits a contemporary straight writer, Gryphon Tott, discovering himself taken by his normal subway route directly to a well appointed den containing the abovementioned literary lions and an abundant supply of spirits.
Written by Jeffrey Hartgraves, a San Francisco actor/playwright who played Tennessee Williams in the original run and wrote the play at Lean Acord (Quentin Crisp)’s request, the play shows us Trott finding that he, too, enjoys the afterlife, but as a gay literary icon akin to his new den mates, the debate over how an unpublished writer (at his death, anyway) ensues.
Quentin Crisp, Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams. WeHo News. |
Once the young man, unpublished at his demise but working at a novel with a gay character that was edited and published in his name afterward, figures out that he is, indeed, dead and in the same room with the four literary lions of gay writing, the mystery unfolds – if he is straight, how can he have landed among the gay?
What else have the five in common, if not sexual orientation?
Pushing hard at the question while the group whiles away eternity together playing at opening the book of all books to passages that they recite, challenging each other to identify, or do some writing themselves, the main character drove the cerebral action well, providing urgent energy to the mission at hand, discovering what he has in common with the four.
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Gryphon Tott with Truman Capote. Photo by WeHo News. |
In the Truman Capote role (Kevin Remington) rested much of the conflict, with the character’s violent sense of righteous indignation propelling many scenes.
Mr. Remington’s portrayal seemed the most natural, giving the audience glimpses of what must have been what Truman Capote was like.
Tennesse Williams, played by a raffish (ala Clark Gable) Curt Bonnem, exuded masculine gay sexual energy while delivering devil-may-care lines.
Definitely the anchor of the show, Leon Acord played Quentin Crisp in a reprise (the play was created for Mr. Acord to feature Quentin Crisp) that rang of truth in every detail of costume, makeup and mannerism, a tribute to make-up and wig designers Sugano and Roberto Rangal.
Judy Garland being hauled off the stage in a comic interlude. Photo by WeHo News. |
The wisdom of what they others call “den mother” Crisp placates Mr. Tott’s soul as he admits that the editing of his novel created unintentional plagiarism – not being alive to finish it meant that a device, a diary he “took” from a gay college classmate who committed suicide, was not his own diary.
That new information, however, brings into question, once again, why Tott ended up on the subway to the afterlife in that particular room.
The intellectual action of the mystery gets broken at times by comedic entries by Alex Egan and cabaret star Amanda Abel, who play famous cameos, such as Judy Garland, in surprising ways.
John Pabros-Clark, who directs the play, keeps the intensity peaking and gives relief at what seem like excellent moments, drawing from his cast a natural performance with high marks for timing, if not always for giving in completely to their characters.
Playwright Jeffrey Hartgraves with LA Cast. Photo by WeHo News. |
The primary example of that might be his allowing Jesse Merlin (who knew the real Quentin Crisp) to play Oscar Wilde against the grain with a (still funny) pompous, aphorism-spouting grandiosity that conflicts with the reputation of a man who took delight in using his scamp’s wit to skewer the pompous and self-involved of his time.
All in all, Carved In Stone a thinking person’s play, a comedy that will exercise a brain cell or two while giving you belly laughs.
Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 pm for $25, and Sundays at 2 pm and 7 pm for $20, at Theatre Asylum, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd. at Vine, on Hollywood's Theatre Row.
For tickets, call 310-473-LIVE (5483) or click here --- http://www.carvedinstonetheplay.com/tickets.html.
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