OCC packs dramatic punch into short plays in festival

Tom Titus

Irwin Shaw’s “Bury the Dead” may have quite a bit of mileage on it --

his soldiers are referred to at one point as “doughboys” -- but the

antiwar theme of this long one-act play is particularly topical in

light of today’s headlines from Iraq.

Orange Coast College’s Repertory Theater Company has chosen this

play, along with the mountain-climbing drama “K-2,” which is being

featured this weekend, as the centerpieces of its Short Play

Festival, spread out over its two Drama Lab theaters. While “K-2”

involves only two actors, “Bury the Dead” features no fewer than 25

performers, many in a variety of roles.

Shaw’s treatise on war resembles something Rod Serling might have

come up with for “The Twilight Zone” -- six soldiers have been killed

in action during “the second year of the war that is to begin

tomorrow,” but they refuse to lie down in their battlefield graves

and submit to burial.

This, you might imagine, creates no end of consternation among the

Army’s powers that be and leads to a series of impassioned pleas from

the women in the slain soldiers’ lives. These segments constitute the

heart of the drama, and director Andrew Vonderschmitt has chosen some

of his most accomplished performers for these duties.

Otherwise, however, the dramatic road leading up to this point is

a bit bumpy, with those charged with setting the mood never really

achieving the required level of tension. One exception is David

Reider as the tough, no-nonsense sergeant in charge of the burial

detail, who delivers a strong, gutsy performance in the single key of

his hard-nosed character.

The dead soldiers, protesting their orders to leave a world they

have just begun to discover, are uniformly excellent. Kirk Halley,

Jason Justin, Arash Karami, Chad McCain, Frank Miyashiro and Vincent

Torres Jr. all render powerful statements on war and its injustice,

which reverberate in today’s nightly news programs.

The wives, girlfriends and mothers in their lives offer poignant

pleas from their particular perspectives, especially Alyson Hanebutt,

whose climactic statement is calculated to shock, and Emily Meade,

decrying her blue-collar existence. Others registering a moving

impact are Kellie Kidde, Monica Kohles, Terra Sanders and Patricia

Turner.

Although dated in style and somewhat deficient in overall depth,

“Bury the Dead” carries a powerful message from the viewpoint of the

men who have been asked to lay down their lives for their country.

Saturday’s performance of “Bury the Dead” in the Drama Lab was

preceded by two one-acts in the OCC Studio Theater -- “Forlorn” and

“Eating Out,” which will be repeated tonight prior to the performance

of “K-2.”

“Forlorn,” the longer of the two, was written and directed by

Arash Karami, who appears briefly at the outset. But the stage really

belongs to Angel Correa, who portrays a schizophrenic, often

psychotic loner waiting in a subway station -- and making the other

travelers’ experience a living hell.

The aforementioned Alyson Hanebutt proves an equal match,

thrusting and parrying in this verbal warfare. And Meade, also

featured in “Bury the Dead,” fills a sort of psychedelic function as

“Kali, Goddess of Fear,” which takes this trip around a different

bend entirely.

Opening the program is “Eating Out,” by Marcia Dixey, under the

direction of Vincent Torres. This exercise consists of three young

women obsessing about food and its desultory affects on their bodies

and psyches.

Katherine Vo delivers the crispest performance of the trio as

Chris, a slender woman who sees herself as corpulent. Anna Nguyen’s

Melanie delights in the experience, while Monica Kohles’ Pat has a

more sardonic approach.

The OCC festival continues tonight with these two plays preceding

“K-2.” Saturday’s program includes “Pyramid,” “Lynette at 3 a.m.” and

“Johnny Harry ... A Love Story.” “Pyramid” and “Red Light” are the

one-acts in Sunday’s lineup.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Fridays.