July 02, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

A sweet theatrical treat at The Pear

By David Herbert

The Pear Avenue Theatre is small to be sure. The 40-seat playhouse is so tiny that to go to the bathroom during a play you must cross the stage, and when you finally get there, you find a sign above the toilet requesting that you not flush during the performance.

But the theater's size is also its strength, and the intimate environment of The Pear is the perfect setting for Ian Walker's outstanding new comedy "A Beautiful Home for the Incurable," directed by Jeanie Forte.

The play, the final one of The Pear's second season, stars four friends with uncommon mental ailments who comprise a sort of support group, leaning on one another for advice and help. When agoraphobic Bunny (Eric Rice) reveals that his identity has been stolen on the Internet and the thief has made off with hundreds of thousands of dollars, the group joins forces to find the culprit.

The first and last scenes are, without a doubt, the funniest parts of the play. The characters do not stand well on their own, but when the entire ensemble is together, the result is nothing less than side-splitting.

Bunny's frantic manner of speech and choppy gesturing is amusing, Temple (Michael Sofaer) has an almost humorous annoying quality and Madilyn (Shannon Stowe) has some great comedic moments, but Nick (Bill D'Agostino) and Lucy (Kristen Lo) steal the show. D'Agostino, with his dry and sarcastic wit, contrasts perfectly with bubbly and spirited Lo.

The seamless ensemble acting is clearly the work of hours of tinkering and adjusting in rehearsals, and Forte's talents in coaxing this from her performers are evident. Moreover, sharp shifts in the play's mood are softened by a great soundtrack during scene changes and effective lighting. The work is so carefully crafted and her understanding of the play so complete that Forte, who was in the audience, turned to check on the lightboard operator when a sound effect was milliseconds late in Act One.

The set is also a delight. The apartment, which bears a strange resemblance to Jerry's apartment on "Seinfeld," has lots of small, homey touches, such as the miniature "Star Wars" figurines and the stack of DVDs on a shelf. There are lots of other little details too, such as the sounds of New York City traffic when the porch doors are opened, all of which help to move the idea of four mentally impaired friends from the abstract to the starkly real and familiar.

Yet there is another, more tender and sweet side to this story. The play is only about mental illness and identity theft on the surface; beneath this exterior you find questions about the definition of "normal," the powerlessness of those who find themselves on the fringes of society, and the struggles we all face with self-identity.

Ultimately, I left the theater with a greater appreciation for the difficulties people outside the mainstream face every day, be it mental, political or economic. And clocking in at under two hours, including a 15-minute intermission, "A Beautiful Home for the Incurable" manages to provoke interesting questions without losing the audience's attention.

Editor's Note: Bill D'Agostino is a staff writer at the Weekly. Jeanie Forte is a theater reviewer for the Weekly.

David Herbert writes for the Voice, the Weekly's sister paper in Mountain View.
Information

What: "A Beautiful Home for the Incurable," a new play by Bay Area playwright Ian Walker. Where: The Pear Avenue Theatre, 1220 Pear Avenue, Unit K in Mountain View When: Through July 11. Show times are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sunday, July 11 at 2 p.m. There will be no performance on July 4. Cost: Tickets are $15 for Thursday and Sunday performances; $20 for Friday and Saturday performances. There will be a discount of $5 on all tickets for students and seniors. Info: Please call (650) 254-1148 or visit www.thepear.org.

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