'BRILLIANT TRACES is kooky, weird and definitely off-kilter, but if taken in the right spirit, illuminating about how we live today.' 'deals with common issues of love and family, and does so with characters, story and dialogue so fantastic that they could exist only within the enchanted realm of the stage.' 'BRILLIANT TRACES is kooky, weird and definitely off-kilter, but if taken in the right spirit, illuminating about how we live today.' 'deals with common issues of love and family, and does so with characters, story and dialogue so fantastic that they could exist only within the enchanted realm of the stage.'
Red Sage Productions at The Lounge Theatre
Through February 10
Reviewed by David Cruz-Chevez
[Note: This review is part of the Z. Clark Branson/Stage Raw Equity and Inclusion Initiative for Young Journalists. Stage Raw staff are mentoring young authors as they build their professional resumes in arts journalism.]
Red Sage Productions presents Cindy Lou Johnson’s 1989 play Brilliant Traces, a compelling story about two people, Rosannah and Henry (Caitlin Carleton and Chris Cardano), who have both suffered from a series of unfortunate circumstances throughout their lives. One night, after traveling for many days with little to no rest, Rosannah mysteriously shows up on Henry’s doorstep, in Alaska. As Henry and Rosannah begin to open up to one another, they come to the realization that they both have had serious and emotionally complicated lives.
At the beginning of the production, Carleton’s portrayal of Rosannah DeLuce is quite intriguing and reels the audience in. However, Rosannah’s dialogue sounds more from a soap opera than from life. (At times, it feels as if Carleton is playing a desperate mother on a telenovela.) Cardano’s Henry provides a tonal shift with his monologues and remarks towards Rosannah, which allows for quite a beautiful collaboration between these two characters. Their strange interactions make the audience question whether or not the two have met before, and we share Henry’s curiosity as to why Rosannah has driven from Arizona to Alaska.
Technical aspects of the production that shine are the set design (John Mahr) and lighting design (Andrew Schemdake). Throughout the production, the lighting is used to emphasize the raw emotions that each character is feeling. Set and costume design (Kathryn Juday) are used effectively to establish location. The costumes worn by the protagonists aren’t very bright or outgoing (wedding dress as an exception) but are reflective of the Alaskan wilderness.
Thanks to Kiff Scholl’s direction Brilliant Traces has great pacing and propels a strong narrative throughout the entirety of the production, undermined only by the need for more quippy dialogue between Henry and Rosannah.
The show has much to recommend it. The emotional dialogue between Henry and Rosannah towards the end of the production is illuminating and personal, revealing his traumatic past, and his decision to live in such a remote area.
Lounge Theatre, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; through Feb. 10. (440) 465-8878, or here. Running time: 80 minutes with no intermission.
The writer, David Cruz-Chevez, is a senior currently attending Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts. His passions include Photography, Journalism, Contemporary Arts and Music Production, and Music Theory.
If you go see the Vestige Group production of Cindy Lou Johnson's Brilliant Traces, go for the performances
Reviewed by Barry Pineo, Fri., Aug. 3, 2007
Brilliant Traces
Hyde Park Theatre, through Aug. 4; City Theatre, Aug. 10-19
Running time: 1 hr., 30 min.
Brilliant Traces Wikipedia
Everyone knows what a broken heart feels like. Rosannah DeLuce certainly knows. She stood at the top of the aisle at her own wedding in Arizona, gazed at the hair on the head of her groom, took five steps back, and fell headlong into the parking lot. Then she drove, stopping only for gas and candy bars, until her car broke down in the furthermost reaches of the Alaskan wilderness. She wandered through a whiteout snowstorm until she reached a cabin belonging to Henry Harry, a man hiding from the world because his heart has been broken, too. When Rosannah falls in Henry's door, he lies on his cot watching her toss back three or four shots of liquor and pass out in the middle of his floor. After considering the situation, he gently picks her up, places her on the cot, removes her wedding dress, bathes her, and covers her up. She sleeps for two days, speaking only once, when she suddenly sits up and says, 'I'm the most beautiful girl you've ever seen.'
And she's right.
If you should attend the Vestige Group production of Cindy Lou Johnson's Brilliant Traces, go for the performances. Jen Brown initially plays Rosannah as loud, panicked, and delirious, and that makes sense, considering she's walked miles in thin slippers through a raging storm. On waking, Brown embodies Rosannah's fear and confusion effectively, and as she bounces back and forth between opening up to Henry and running away from him, she manages to make the varied and conflicting qualities of strength, pain, and vulnerability blend into a very credible performance. As Henry, Andrew Varenhorst presents an even more compelling presence. With his unkempt beard and tall, lanky frame, it's not much of a stretch to believe that Varenhorst is a hermit living in a cabin in the wilderness, but his performance goes far beyond surface appearances. He conveys Henry's overly sensitive nature, speaking too loudly, suddenly angering, and then shutting down in avoidance, and most particularly, he uses stillness to great effect, often doing little more than standing still and delivering his lines with just a bit too much volume and intensity. You feel for the guy. You really do. And although director Susie Gidseg allows her actors to cut a lot of beautiful moments too short and allows Varenhorst to shove his hands in his pockets a few too many times, she deserves credit for assisting both actors in creating such fully fleshed-out characters. She also deserves credit for staging the show so simply, on a minimal set with only the barest necessities, while still doing just enough to support Johnson's spare story.
Brilliant Traces Monologue
And what a beautiful story it is. You may not quite believe that someone would do what Rosannah does, but who among us at one time or another hasn't wanted to run? And while running might seem like the wrong thing to do in almost any circumstance, for some it may be the rightest thing they've ever done. Yes, your heart can be broken. But if you're lucky, it can be healed as well, perhaps completely by chance, without ever really looking for it at all.