Review: BRILLIANT TRACES At TheaterLab

  Brilliant Traces at Theatrelab

Brilliant Traces opens with a bang. More specifically it opens with several bangs and a shout and a disheveled woman in a wedding dress bursting onto the scene in a mighty erratic ball of energy. It is in this sudden manner that Cindy Lou Johnson brings the audience into the world of her play, a piece about two lonely people desperate to connect to someone real in an unrealistic world.

This 90-minute play originally premiered at the Cherry Lane Theater in 1989. This time around Brilliant Traces finds its home at Theaterlab, thrusting the audience into a much more intimate and effective setting. Acting as the fourth wall on a very small Alaskan cabin, we serve witness to a chance encounter between two strangers as Rosannah (Erin Mallon) erupts into the silent and solo life of Henry Harry (John Golaszewski,)

Half starved and half frozen, Rosannah finds herself saved by Henry's shelter, and after knocking back a few shots she unleashes a torrent of existential questions and irrational reasoning before passing out on the floor. Henry cares for his uninvited guest, and after Rosannah awakens from a two-day sleep they begin their tangled web of conversations, confrontations, and explanations.

Right from the start it is clear that Johnson has a gift for dialogue. Words flow from the performers tongues in poetic and surreal bursts, tangling comedic repetition with raw one-liners about life and love. The play dances around reality, while mainly placing the audience and its characters deep into the realm of fantasy. Johnson seems to take joy in leap-frogging back and forth between the two, asking the audience to believe what we are being shown and take it for what it is worth.

While the dialogue is quick witted, the conversations can seem to drift on with no end. The characters have multiple drawn out discussions about out of body experiences and the meaning of being alone while never quite touching on the grim reality of their situations. This teasing game can get a bit tiring, and by the fourth or fifth time the audience comes close to finding out why Rosannah has driven so far on her wedding day you find yourself just wanting to be told already.

Johnson is also guilty of some preaching as she pushes her metaphors so deep into the audience that they lose some of their visceral potency. The notions of loneliness and loss are highlighted in such a manner that they sometimes border on cliché.

Yet, despite these flaws, the story is full of subtle comedy and relatable pain, all beautifully enhanced by the characters who serve as the vessels for these themes. Mallon (as Rosannah) is a sight to see, slipping into her role with confidence and ease. Dynamic, funny, and energetic, she owns the stage and seems to usher the play along after her. As the intruder she has more to say and more to preach, stirring up trouble with every rant and rave. Lost, self-centered, and defensive, Mallon plays the part of Rosannah as that of a broken woman-child, more apt to sit in a corner and pout than to tell the true story of her past. At its core Brilliant Traces seems to be her journey, coming to a close only when she is capable of surrender and acceptance.

Golaszewski (as Henry Harry) plays the straighter of the two characters, remaining silent during the first few scenes of the show. His moves are slow and deliberate, laden with tension and pain. Golaszewski's humor is much more obvious, as is the fact that he is a bit too clean and attractive to be an oil-rig-working-hermit. Yet it is he who brings the dose of reality in with a slap while recounting the story of his past, and he who anchors Brilliant Traces when it threatens to fly off into the land of pure fantasy. While not matching the fervor and command of Mallon, Golaszewski plays his part well.

At its core Brilliant Traces gives us the story of two grown-up runaways. A princess finally meets her white knight, but only after they are all grown up and broken, finding one another in the limbo-land of the existential. The play manages to combine the linear romantic comedy storyline with the absurdity of intangible dialogue. As spectators we are placed in an outrageous location only to be brutally ripped away by the raw pain that overwhelms the characters' lives, and it is in this way Johnson very much succeeds in capturing her audience.

The show runs through December 20th at TheaterLab.
Starring John Golaszewski and Erin Mallon. Written by Cindy Lou Johnson, Directed by Heidi Handelsman. The show is 90 minutes without intermission.

Top photo of John Golaszewski and Erin Mallon by Danielle Murat
Bottom photo of Erin Mallon and John Golaszewski by Danielle Murat

 

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