EMAV Review: 'Small Mouth Sounds' is a near-silent tour-de-force ★★★★★

★★★★★ - Irresistible

We’ve often heard “acting is reacting” but that is an over-simplification. It’s really not that easy. Not by a long shot. The toughest job an actor can face is being on the stage without any lines to speak. For without lines, most people would ask, how does an actor let you know what is going on, what their motivation is, what is bothering them–what their innermost thoughts are–at the crux of a scene?

Silence your electronic equipment and breathe in…breathe out. Breathe in…breathe out. Those are only a couple of the “Small Mouth Sounds” you’re going to hear as A Public Fit presents Bess Wohl’s delightful, quirky play. You’ll hear even less speaking. Yet this talented ensemble evokes laughter and tears without a need for Silent Screen-type captioning.

Six people gather at a woodland retreat to make peace with what life is shoving (or has shoved) at them, or simply “find themselves.” As directed by Ann-Marie Pereth, “Small Mouth Sounds” is a tour-de-force. Consider it a Master Class, not only in acting but in life.

The cast portrays a cornucopia of disparate characters: Jan (Timothy Cummings) is the follower dealing with loss, Rodney (Mario Peoples) is the experienced-at-this hunk, Ned (Marcus Weiss) is easily confused and unsure, Joan (Valerie Carpenter Bernstein) is the exhausted caretaker and partner of Judy (Dina Emerson) the cancer patient, Alicia (Jamie Carvelli Pikrone) is a hot mess and deals with a different kind of loss albeit no less (immediately) painful than Jan’s. Then there is the unseen Teacher (Erik Amblad), who leads the group through their week of silence and does the most speaking via a god mic.

Assisted by Josh Wroblewski’s beautiful atmospheric lighting, Eric A. Koger designed a wonderful set that provides everything from classroom to bunkhouse to forest. Add in sound by Arles Estes and the effect is complete immersion.

Without dialogue, how does one gather even the most basic of information? The way we all do. Every day as we interact with everyone around us. By shrugs, by exasperated sighs, by smiles, hand gestures, head nods or shakes, or the short verbal phrase here and there; an “I guess,” or “Whatever.” How we interpret those signals determines our immediate emotional reaction. Interesting how alike and together in the world we all are, isn’t it?

In the end, what you find funny, what brings you to shed a tear, will depend upon where you are in your own journey. That determines how you interpret the display of humanity on the stage. One thing is guaranteed, this production will move you.

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday - Saturday; 2 p.m. Sundays through March 10

2 p.m. Saturday March 2, 9

Where: The Usual Place, 100 S. Maryland Parkway

Tickets: $25 - $30 (www.apublicfit.org)

Producer: A Public Fit; Artistic Director: Ann Marie Pereth; Producing Director: Joseph D. Kucan; Director: Ann Marie Pereth; Set Design: Eric A. Koger; Lighting Design: Josh Wroblewski; Sound Design: Arles Estes; Costume Design: Mariya Radeva-Nedyalkova; Stage Manager: Brandi Blackman

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EMAV Review: LVLT's Classic Doll’s House is timely

Photos taken by Kris M. Mayeshiro/ km2creative

★★★½☆ - Satisfying

Henrik Ibsen’s drama, “A Doll’s House,” was published and performed in the late 1880s. With the fight for women’s equality still raging today, the election of so many women to legislatures around the country brings the play’s ideals front and center.

The original sparked much controversy and adaptations abound (even a radio version). Using a literal translation by Charlotte Barslund, Frank McGuinness’ 1997 adaptation sticks closely to the original and won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.

This LVLT production, directed by Jane Walsh, is stylized. It takes on a Dickensian London atmosphere introducing the characters delivering gifts. Actors greet with hugs and kisses, or foul expressions depending upon the relationships yet to play out; dialogue is mouthed, while the children are busy with a period hand-clapping game. Once the gifts (children’s blocks) have been placed on a bookshelf, everyone exits, and the actual play begins.

As Nora, Olivia Hernando flits and twirls and dances around the stage, delivering a laughing, silly, naïve Scarlett O’Hara-type damsel. She’s never in one place for long and very self-absorbed. Hernando retains that even as her transgression(s) are revealed. Only when she’s faced with complete destruction do we see any convincing conflict. The change from woe-is-me to self-determination happens in a sudden realization rather than slowly deriving from a discussion with a family friend. Hernando further muddies the waters as the only actor to deliver dialogue in very precise, stilted enunciation.

Her husband, Torvald, is played effectively by Shane Cullum as he first coddles, then slowly becomes concerned for Nora’s mental welfare as she has trouble with a dance he taught her years before. His hands, then body shakes as he reads of her crimes and realizes what they will do to the family. Subsequently, reading a letter absolving her, Cullum again takes his time in the realization; thought processes expressed slowly as things sink in and his excitement and relief mount.

Marni Montgomery-Blake delivers a steady performance as Kristine Linde, Nora’s childhood friend. Her displeasure with Nora’s selfishness is displayed behind softly delivered words, and she moves with the confidence of a woman who has faced her own difficulties in life and come to terms with needing to provide for herself as well as a desire to care for others.

The villain of the piece comes in the form of one Niles Krogstad, played with finesse by David Ament. He’s subtle when he needs to be and overtly threatening when that ploy doesn’t work except when Krogstad turns his back in a position of weakness.

Like Hernando, Steve Webster plays his character (Dr. Rank) very stylized. His delivery at first is very sing-song in a beautiful tenor, later meshing with the remainder of the cast in a more realistic portrayal.

The nanny (Martha Bowers) and two children (Jack Davison and Lila P. Fisher) round out the cast. The kids are adorable – as kids should be – and their performances are convincing. Bowers has trouble meshing words with physicality, though, when she reveals a troubled background.

Stephanie Daniels has provided beautiful period costumes. She’s given the men silk cravats, a delightful party gown for Nora, and even Rank dons a colorful vest. Raphael Daniels-Devost lights the small stage well. The only thing which sticks out is the bright light shining through the fourth wall window; it comes up and dims out as if days pass within seconds.

The lovely, simple set by Chris Davies evokes the time period and the proper station of a family on the lower rungs of upward mobility.

When taking liberties in stylizing a classic such as this, it would seem permissible when dealing with onstage smoking. The lighting of a cigar would be best left out completely, rather than so unconvincingly mimed.

Though direction muddies at times, Walsh brings it all round full-circle with the curtain call as actors carry on the blocks (which slowly left), to be replaced on the shelf.

Though the play is 131-years old, it’s timely, rapidly selling out as the 2017 sequel “A Doll’s House, Part 2,” written by Lucas Hnath, will be presented as part of the Mainstage series May 3-19.

What: A Doll’s House

When: 8 p.m. Thursday - Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday through February 24

Where: Las Vegas Little Theatre-Fischer Black Box, 3920 Schiff drive

Tickets: $14 - $16 (702-362-7996; www.lvlt.org)

Producer: Las Vegas Little Theatre; Director: Jane Walsh; Set Design: Chris Davies; Lighting Design: Raphael Daniels-Devost; Sound Design: Joey Jevne; Costume Design: Stephanie Daniels; Stage Manager: Cassidy Bonifacio

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EMAV Review: Cockroach Theatre's "Anarchist" is brilliant madcap mania ★★★★★