JUNE 2007
Pyretown
by JOHN BELLUSO
directed by DIANE RODRIGUEZ

"CRITIC'S PICK!...The late playwright John Belluso was better known as promising than as accomplished. But this delicate script about a love affair between a 23-year-old wheelchair-using man and a hard-pressed, 42-year-old single mother of three is just about flawless, as staged by Diane Rodriguez for Playwrights’ Arena. Tobias Forrest, a quadriplegic whom Rodriguez noticed when he was working as an usher at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, and Dendrie Taylor provide nuanced, probing performances. Belluso’s script, while touching briefly on topical issues, is primarily a bittersweet evocation of life’s fleeting glories."
   -- Don Shirley, City Beat

"Forrest, a splendid young man, in real life a quadriplegic, more than fulfills the encumbered role of the difficult Harry, although his youthfulness exaggerates the acceptability of conciliation between the characters. Taylor is a likable, wonderfully right Louise, a savvy mom, functioning without backup support. The two offer a cohesive grouping that defies reason while promising a much-needed solution to a common problem: loneliness...Excellent performances and heartfelt directorial interpretation by Diane Rodriguez give credence to this play's honesty and belief in itself. "
   -- Madeleine Shaner, Back Stage West

"...a passionate play that will stay in the mind long after the final curtain call.  Taylor...takes all the highs and lows of a near frenzied character and makes them believable.  Forrest is superb as he portrays a young man with problems that can't really go away with the snap of the fingers. Diane Rodriguez's direction seems appropriately unobtrusive with fresh staging of multiple scenes.  Bob Blackburn's sound design is also notable and adds much to the production." 
   -- Dave DePino, Park La Brea News

"The play is well served by its actors. Tobias Forrest presents Harry as initially insouciant and independent, but later revealed as furiously obsessed over the health care system which he believes Louise, like his mother, is unable to handle. Dendrie Taylor, clearly the more experienced actor, is a strong vulnerable Louise. Though certainly not Harry's equal in culture and literature, Louise has a degree from her life as a mother in compassion and perception, which Taylor projects. Both actors have an energy and sensitivity that, under Diane Rodriguez's intuitive direction, allows them to play the ends of their characters without resorting to screaming...It's to Belluso's credit that he never used his characters as mouthpieces or condescended to them."
   -- Laura Hitchcock, Curtain Up

set design by Victoria Petrovich
lighting design by Heather Graff and Richard Peterson
costume design by Anthony Villarreal
sound design by Bob Blackburn
casting director/associate producer Raul Clayton Staggs

starring
Tobias Forrest and Dendire Taylor

A quiet smoldering love story
between a divorced single mom
and a handsome younger man
in a wheelchair.  Two people
living on the fringe find themselves
in a combustible relationship that
is intense and erotic.

Preview: Friday, June 8, 2007, $5
Opening: Saturday, June 9, 2007, $30
Regular Performances: Fri/Sat 8 PM and Sun 7 PM
through Sunday, July 8, 2007 ONLY $20

Studio/Stage
520 North Western Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(between Melrose and Beverly)

Located 2 blocks south of Melrose at Maplewood.  (Please allow plenty of time for street parking).

Reservations: 213-627-4473

Copyright 2007 Playwrights' Arena

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