Friday, October 30, 1998
‘Boys’ Life’ examines men, relationships
THEATER: Lives of three characters cause laughter, personal
evaluation
By Erin Beatty
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Zoo Theater feels something like a sardine can. Forty-one
audience members press against one another with the communal goal
of watching "Boys’ Life." As viewers loose feeling in their legs,
they find themselves taken with wonderful acting, brilliant humor
and a wild script.
Don, Jack and Phil are the three classically typical guys,
somewhat recently graduated from college. The play opens on the
three friends drinking, smoking a little marijuana and wrestling
each other to the ground.
The two-story set takes remarkable advantage of its tight space.
The bottom is Don’s apartment, elegantly decorated with beautiful
poster women, a bikini-clad mannequin’s body and pink satin
sheets.
Don, played by Matt Chaffee, is the "potential character." From
the beginning, he shows his immediate vulnerability, sort of the
nerdy-guy-of-the-bunch quality that alerts the audience that he
will go somewhere.
His story, one of the many sub-plots which come together to make
an ingenious whole, is about Lisa. She is that one special
girlfriend who makes the guy want to be a better man – though this
idea has tired throughout the ’90s, it is skillfully crafted here,
never evoking an image of redundancy.
Phil, wonderfully acted by Samuel Bliss Cooper, comes across as
a bit psycho at times. His part of the story develops a
conscious-ridden character, ruled by his unruly sexual motivations.
While he is far from the only character dragged around by his
anatomy, Phil’s androgynous essence adds a quirky feeling to this
quality.
Still, Phil’s awkward femininity makes him sensitive, and this
appears to be his tragic flaw. Though he leads with his hormones,
he regrets with his heart, which makes for a fascinating
development.
Finally there is Jack. Played by Thomas Burr, a UCLA alumni and
skillful character-actor, Jack fills the macho role. Constantly
looking to be satisfied, Jack faces the issue of masculinity,
blatantly unable to deal with his crumbling marriage, affection for
his son or living continuously in the past.
Although the three individual characters draw the viewer in, it
is their interactions with one another which pull the play
together. As the play moves on, the audience must question where
their loyalties lie and what has kept them together for so
long.
The short scenes race along, and though the viewer may
completely loose the concept of passing time, they are never bored,
always caught in the moment of the scene.
The humor is wonderful and beautifully delivered. And as the
audience laughs with the play, they stop to catch themselves,
realizing that something much more dramatic is occurring: catching
the fear that faces these individual men, and how lost they all
truly seem to be.
When the play closes, the audience is left conflicted,
questioning whether they would rather stand up and allow blood to
flow through their legs or continue watching to the finish. Without
being asked, the viewers are forced to examine their own life,
question their own motivations, and really think about the play
itself.
THEATER: "Boys’ Life" runs through Nov. 15, at the Zoo Theater
in Hollywood. Tickets are $10-15. For ticket information, call
(323) 460-4233.
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