Tarnished "Shining City" at the Fountain Theatre

--- Theatre Review

Billed as a "modern-day ghost story," the intense new play, premiering at the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles is in reality, a "modern-day guilt story" (and well it might be). Written by Irish playwright Conor McPherson, and directed by Stephen Sachs, SHINING CITY is steeped in anguish and indecision, dark and bitter as a mug of over-brewed Irish tea.

It´s the tale of two very different men struggling with similar troubles: the women who "haunt" them.

John´s wife is recently deceased, killed by a drunk driver one stormy night on her way home from, he knows not where. An image of her, looking much as she did after the crash – disheveled clothes, rain-wet hair plastered across her face – appears whenever he enters their house. It terrifies him so much he has moved into a nearby Bed & Breakfast. He can´t sleep. He can´t work. He wonders if he´s losing his mind.

He makes an appointment with a therapist, and in his tortured, anguished confessions the story of his betrayal and brutality – ample reasons for the guilt that nearly chokes him – eventually comes out. It´s too bad Morlan Higgins´s impressive, emotionally taut performance is soiled by a script saturated with profanity.

Ian, the inexperienced young ex-priest-turned-therapist who has only just moved into his office-loft, has a horrific problem of his own, namely a frantic girlfriend with an infant daughter, who alternately entreats and screams for him to come home. It seems he´s abandoned her (and the babe) because he "doesn´t want to be with her anymore."

Is the ex-Father having second thoughts about leaving his vocation? Remorseful about living in sin? Or does this natal father simply want a way out of his responsibilities? The frenzied, drawn-out shouting match between these two (William Dennis Hurley and Kerrie Blaisdell), while skillfully delivered and choreographed, opens yet another floodgate of profanity.

But Ian´s ambiguity about being a husband and daddy pales when placed alongside his greater transgression (in this reviewer´s opinion), when he decides to entertain an unkempt young man (Benjamin Keepers) who´s accustomed to meeting married men at the park at night. Please! Do we need another story of a deviant priest? And hey, there is an AIDS epidemic out there, or hasn´t it reached the land ´o shamrocks?

The tale has a mixed happy/haunting conclusion which will be seen as either fitting or tragic. Either way, SHINING CITY will most definitely inspire conversation and debate at post-theatre gatherings.

The Fountain Theatre´s production values are always top notch, reflected in the talented direction, set and lighting design, and choice of performers. But this play does not reach the quality of theatre they´ve recently presented (COMING HOME, PHOTOGRAPH 51). I´ve been told that audiences will either love or hate this play. I fall into the latter category.

SHINING CITY is performed Thursdays – Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm through December 19. Prices range from $25 to $28, with discounts for Seniors and Students.

The Fountain Theatre is located at 5060 Fountain Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90029 (at Normandie). For information or reservations call (323) 663-1525, or visit www.FountainTheatre.com