Review: MERCURY at The Road Theatre On Magnolia

The Road Theatre on Magnolia in North Hollywood produces consistently high-quality shows and the West Coast premiere of Steve Yockey’s latest project is no exception.

Focusing on three couples and one busybody neighbor interweaving in an unnamed community outside Portland, MERCURY is a drama, a comedy, and an existential horror all in one. Neighbors Heather (Andrea Flowers) and Pamela (Meeghan Holaway) have just ended an affair, much to Pamela’s dismay. Meanwhile, upbeat astrologer Alicia (Gloria Ines), who owns a curiosity shop with her partner, Sam (Billy Baker), meddles in the affairs of her patrons, selling them mysterious elixirs and totems, including one to Olive (Christina Carlisi), who wants to rid herself of her neighbor Nick’s (Justin Lawrence Barnes) irksome new live-in boyfriend, Brian (Danny Lee Gomez). They all get more than they bargained for, especially with Mercury moving into retrograde.

The writing is sharp and the situations grounded and relatable … until they take a turn for the surreally bizarre. Yockey (“The Flight Attendant,” “Dead Boy Detectives”) expertly sets up complicated situations in ways that are easily grasped even when they go sideways, becoming abstract versus concrete. His characters are multilayered and relatable even when they’re performing heinous acts. And informing the parts with interests that support them rounds them out, such as spiky Pamela obsessing about an arrangement of cacti in her home while she swills liquor.

Director Ann Hearn Tobolowsky (“Reykjavík,” “Through the Eye of a Needle”) understands the nuances of the script and the complexities of the characters, getting fully realized performances from her actors, whether through humor, horror, or pathos. The show moves slickly and smoothly without ever feeling rushed, until the end. The conclusion is so abrupt it takes a moment to process that it’s over. The story would have been better served with a few minutes more to let it breathe.

The projection design by Ben Rock, comprised of Mercury moving between Earth and the sun from our POV here on the globe, is stunning and sets a fiery backdrop for the dramatic explosions taking place on stage. The scenic design by Katrina Coulourides, a circular set of Brian and Nick’s home, Pamela’s house, and Alicia’s shop, makes fantastic use of the stage space, doubling for a nether world at another point. The actors are all strong with Carlisi as abrasive, intrusive Olive and Holaway as privileged, vindictive Pamela particular standouts.

Overall, the show is wickedly funny and a trenchant meditation on entitlement, revenge and justice, even if that justice is one-sided. Another bull’s-eye for the Road Theatre.

MERCURY is performed at the Road Theatre, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood, through February 18. Tickets are available at (818) 761-8838 and RoadTheatre.org.

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