[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of The Civil Twilight, written by Shem Bitterman, directed by Ann Hearn Tobolowsky, and starring Taylor Gilbert and Andrew Elvis Miller.
RETURNING April 4-May 11!
The Civil Twilight is a thriller. But it starts off gently enough with two strangers thrown together during a storm that grounds their plane and forces them to share a Midwestern motel room for the night. But what first appears as a generous act by the brilliant Andrew Elvis Miller’s well-loved radio host John Pine feels a little off from the start. His companion Ann Carlson is played by Taylor Gilbert and let me tell you, she is riveting. These two disparate souls play cat and mouse all night. Pine’s slow descent is matched by Carlson’s eery shift from gullible stogy Midwestern mama to something else altogether. But if there’s one thing you can take from this wildly unpredictable play it’s that nothing and no one is ever truly what they seem.
What I found so fascinating about the play is that within the first few minutes, I thought I knew what was going on and how the story would proceed. But I was dead wrong. These characters morph and grow and change in such a subtle yet visceral way that in the end I felt almost betrayed by them. But in a good way. In the way that makes you catch your breath a little and think about the things and the people in your life that you really can’t count on at all. But then that really is the desired effect of a thriller, isn’t it? To throw you. To make you doubt what’s real and who’s yours and why the world spins.
Shem Bitterman has written an intimate crumbling of a life and a shocking twisting opportunity for another. It’s brilliant and compelling and made real by two truly wonderful actors whose characters are so ill matched and yet so utterly connected that they leave you deeply disturbed…which is I think the effect all concerned hoped for.
We have experienced nearly a decade now of shocking revelations about our neighbors, our families and sometimes even our spouses. Hidden agendas, unknown alliances, deeply held beliefs that defy logic and bely reality. It’s a bit ‘Mad Max’ out there and stories like this one feel not only necessary but an adaptation of our constant narrative. Somewhere, not too far from you, there is an Ann Carson and a John Pine. Working their way into your normal and changing the way we experience the world. Thrillers can become horror pretty easily and this one is a very close call. Bravo!
Tickets:
https://theciviltwilight.ludus.com/
When:
Returning April 4-May 11
Performances are Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 3pm
Where:
The Broadwater Theatre
1076 Lillian Way, Hollywood, CA 90038
THE TEAM
Production Design by Joel Daavid; Sound Design by Chris Moscatiello; Costume Design by Jenna Bergstraesser. Original Score by Roget Bellon. The Production Stage Manager is Andreya Nevarez. The Civil Twilight is produced by Danna Hyams.