Housed on the small street of Lillian Way, away from the high prices in Beverly Hills and the bright lights of West Hollywood, the Elephant Theatre Company is flying under the radar with a piece of theater gold.
Playwright Timothy McNeil’s “Anything” is a most modern and unusual love story. The play opens with the character of Early Landry, a Southern widower who has moved to Los Angeles after multiple suicide attempts and a brief stint in a mental institution. Faced with a future full of pathetic emptiness and excessive amount of bourbon, Early is close to giving up hope. Enter Frieda Von Rhenburg ““ the transvestite, drug-addicted hooker next door ““ who presents herself one day to Early after a violent break up with her boyfriend. Frieda’s own words describe her best. On their first meeting, she tells Early, “If I lived in Germany, I’d be a countess!”
Here, within Early’s small apartment in Los Angeles, the audience sees an entire relationship of extreme ups and downs unfold. What begins with an innocent request for a cup of sugar from Frieda quickly becomes a series of visits in which both characters begin to realize how terrifying true emotions can be. McNeil, starring as Early, possesses an uncanny charm and impressive sense of comedic timing. Even with a character as pitiable as Early, McNeil manages to turn him into a character of hope and strength.
At some moments, the emotions on Early’s face are so real you feel as if you’re pressing your face up against a window and peering inside someone’s home watching to see how their life unravels. Early’s anger, joy or sadness become your own and it’s exhilarating and frightening all at once.
Louis Jacobs successfully electrifies every scene he’s in while playing Frieda Von Rhenburg. What makes Jacobs such a genius is his ability to portray a character who so clearly has no hope in life and makes us believe in her anyway. Frieda not only becomes an example of what Early has left to experience in life but, for the audience, becomes a woman to admire and envy for her contagious vibrancy and belief in who she’s meant to be.
Filling a show with great talents, fabulous set design and exceptional background music may be a formula for success but that doesn’t mean anyone can pull it off. Fortunately, the Elephant Theatre Company makes it appear effortless. The intimate atmosphere and outgoing actors made the performance a great success. There’s a heart-wrenching moment in the show where Early reads Frieda a letter from his deceased wife. After Early finishes Frieda looks at him and says “The only lies are the ones you tell yourself.”
Perhaps it won’t win hundreds of awards and perhaps the cast isn’t full of former Emmy award winners but “Anything” is a show with heart.
– Courtney Powell
E-mail Powell at cpowell@media.ucla.edu.