Review: Intense WATCHING O.J. Provides A Delicate Balancing Act of Dejá Vu Tensions
WATCHING O.J./by David McMillan/ directed by Keith Szarabajka/Atwater Village Theatre/thru November 8, 2015
In the world premiere of his WATCHING O.J., playwright David McMillan deftly balances both sides of the black and white/innocent vs. guilty/jubilant and angry reactions of a multi-racial neighborhood in their varied responses to the infamous O.J. Simpson verdict in 1995. A cross-section of races and occupations make a volatile combustion fueled by the explosive portrayals of the stellar cast.
WATCHING O.J. begins with Harold (a very effective Tony Pasqualini) working at his dry cleaners - Perfect Fit Cleaners. Angela Bullock embodies Cordia, Harold's trusted employee. Cordia bridges the generation of her mother working in less than ideal conditions to support her, with attempts to raise her son Jamal for a future brighter outside of a prison cell. Bullock vividly exposes the many layers of Cordia's psyche - defiant, compliant, proud, realistic, strong, practical, always fair, always loving. Kareen Ferguson brings intensity to his Jamal especially in his ardent altercation with Allison, his ex (a pragmatic Tarah Pollock).
As Oz, the owner of the nearby auto repair, Robert Gossett grabs the stage with his enthusiasm, his infectious laughter, and his commanding stage presence. Oz, appears to be the voice of reason amongst all the chaos of passionate opposing opinions.
How inclusive of McMillan to incorporate a non-black/non-white perspective via Derek, a Korean-American who's parents owned a grocery store in Watts that Rodney King rioters torched and looted. Roy Vongtama delivers a laid-back, calm explanation for wanting whatever verdict that would not incite another destruction of his parent's rebuilt store.
Second act opens with all gathered in front of Perfect Fit Cleaners' working TV watching the not guilty verdict read, easily the most potently powerful scene of WATCHING O.J. All points of views spit out, tempers flare, words spoken that cannot be taken back, but all with intelligent reasonableness behind each beliefs. Brilliant! Lisa Renee Pitts and Kelly Wolf especially shine in this climatic group confrontation. Pitts' simply exuberant as Kim the mother of two boys, one currently in prison and the other attempting to get into a good school. Kim's joyous reaction rubs Sheila the wrong way. Wolf digs deep into her role of Sheila, the wife of a policeman currently working an extra detail for the O.J. verdict. Pitts' Kim and Wolf's Sheila match verbal blow for verbal blow in defending their individual beliefs of the just announced verdict.
In a brief second act scene, Eve Sigall gives life to Mrs. Osborne, a Perfect Fit customer who casually assumes Cordia's quite happy with the not guilty verdict.
Possibly some judicious editing of this Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA production by able director Keith Szarabajka would make a more streamlined effectual theatrical piece. A few scenes could have ended a few beats earlier without losing its intended effect.
Excellent utilitarian split set of Perfect Fit Cleaners and Oz' Auto Repair by Andy Broomell.
How interesting that this case plays out as black against white when McMillan notes that O. J. Simpson himself was quoted as saying in an earlier interview, "I'm not black. I'm O.J." Truth is stranger than fiction. You can't make this stuff up.
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