Review: SHOOTING STAR by Steven Dietz at Little Fish Theatre

Earlier this year, Little Fish Theatre moved into their new location in Redondo Beach, creating an intimate black box theater filled with possibilities for exciting theatre of all genres. The third production of their 2025 season is Shooting Star by Steven Dietz, directed in the round by Tara Donovan with two characters circling around two rows of blue plastic chairs installed back-to-back in the center of the room.

Hints abound via voice over by Mirai before and during the play reminding us we are seated inside a public airport waiting area where travelers pass each other or wait impatiently for their flight to a business meeting, home, or for a much-needed getaway from the pressures of daily life. Whatever the reason, each wants to spend as little time as possible waiting to depart.

Such is the case for Elena (Analeis Anderson) and Reed (Doug Mattingly) who immediately notice each other inside the terminal waiting area but do their best to avoid catching each other’s eye, each waiting for a break in the weather to get on their way. You see, these two were lovers back in college and unresolved feelings for each other boil to the surface as the hours pass and it becomes apparent that since they are going to be stuck there all night, it might be their only opportunity to finally tell each other the truth about their feelings. Or not. Or what if?

Adding to the tension between them and our involvement in their lives are their monologues which often break the fourth wall to let us know the truth about their feelings, fears, and regrets, not only in the present but also from their wild and crazy college days. And it soon becomes apparent each has the goods on the other and knows how close or far they have come to making their lives match their vision of the future from their good ole’ college days.

Predator and prey roles reverse frequently as one character leaves the room, allowing us to hear the inner thoughts of the one remaining alone onstage, while their constant circling of each other around the benches alerts us when a “kill” is about to take place. But what we get to witness is a journey deep into their hearts and souls, the positive and negative intertwining until the airport powers down, leaving the two old friends, who have been drinking themselves far enough under the table to be honest with each other and igniting their passion across the very benches where they had been circling each other just a short time ago.

Through all the back-and-forth emotions, Anderson and Mattingly open their hearts and souls during each character’s confessions, their facial expressions reflecting all the emotional cross-currents messing with their minds as they try to figure out just how much they can trust each other now to tell the truth. Add to that, Reed is in a rocky marriage with a cheating wife and a beloved 12-year-old daughter based in Boston while Elena lives in Austin, travelling the world as a respected speaker on NPR and New Age living.

But of course, a wench is in thrown into the works when they discover each is heading to the other’s hometown! Is that fate telling them to be together, each wonders? Just the thought has Elena nervously blabbering about nothing rather than letting Reed know how she really feels about him.

And as the night wears on, could it be one will change their plans and decide to follow the other home to see where things go? The romantic in us will certainly want that to happen, while the realists know once bitten twice shy should be a fair warning that you can never go back.

What makes this production so enthralling along with Donovan’s tight direction is the immersive effect of feeling involved in the lives of these two lonely people as they openly reveal their fears and feelings as the 90-minute play unfolds. “Steven Dietz has a gift for blending humor with heartbreak,” says director Tara Donovan. “At its core, Shooting Star is about connection - missed, remembered, and rediscovered - and I think audiences will see pieces of themselves in these characters.”

And by morning when the airport opens and flights are scheduled to leave, will you be rooting for Elena and Reed to stay together or stick to their original plans and go their separate ways as planned before their chance meeting? And for what reasons? It makes for an intriguing question as more secrets are revealed and clothes begin to fly off in the middle of the night across those airport waiting room chairs as Elena and Reed attempt to rekindle what was once between them. Intimacy direction by Jen Albert allows the scene to feel natural and not forced, going with the ebb and flow of their emotions.

Tara Donovan’s set design includes many clock faces on different times painted on the black floor around the two sets of bright blue benches by scenic painter Joyce Hutter. Sound design by Robert Black includes many songs reflecting the moods and secrets revealed between scenes, with lighting designed by Bunni Gutierrez focusing attention exactly where Donovan wants it from moment to moment. Costumes by Aja Morris-Smiley reflect Reed’s business and conservative life while Elena’s free-flowing outfits and hair support her left-wing politics and lifestyle.

And as Paul Simon’s “Still Crazy After All These Years” plays you out of the theater, perhaps, like me, you will start thinking about all the ways you thought your life would go and just how different and wonderful it turned out anyway! Then again, if you could go back and reunite with your first love, would you? And like Elena and Reed, might you want to attempt rekindling all that youthful passion again? No doubt you are thinking about that person right now – and wondering “what if?”

Produced by Tara Donovan, Suzanne Dean and Stephanie Coltrin, Shooting Star continues at The Pond at Little Fish Theatre, 514 N Prospect Ave, Ste. L1, Redondo Beach, CA 90277 on Fri & Sat at 8pm; Sat & Sun at 2pm through November 2. Tickets: $37 Regular | $35 Senior | $22 Student online at www.littlefishtheatre.org, or call 310-512-6030; text 424-203-4707, or at the box office prior to each performance. Free onsite parking lot.

Los Angeles Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (Hollywood Bowl)

9.6% of votes

2. ORIGINALS (The Gardenia Club)

4.9% of votes

3. HAIR (Conundrum Theatre)

4.8% of votes

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