Review: FOOL FOR LOVE at The Karma Compound

For once, I didn't overthink what I was going to wear. I put on a grey T-shirt with old Chevys on it, some olive

green wide-leg pants—I was going for mosquito coverage. I packed my mini backpack with water, mosquito

repellent bands, some cut-up strawberries, a bag of popcorn, and set out for the High Desert to see a play.

How extraordinary was this? I thought, for what I knew of the experience I was en route toward was going

to take place in the desert. Not a set to illustrate desert, but quite literally, the desert.

The creative people of the High Desert have an effectious style of their own. It's supremely individual, with

an underlying layer of dust, if you will. Earthy, cool, a little weathered. Not exactly the night for an LBD—

unless that's your thing, in which case, throw on some combat boots and you'd be perfectly cool.

Even the choice alone—I mean, a Sam Shepard play?

The theatre kids aren't likely running toward the playwrights whose names they learned about in school. It

isn't flashy or popular. It isn't new or trendy. It is a classic American playwright whose work can be described, most minimally, as messy.

I was told to bring my own chair, if I'd like. There would be some chairs available and plenty of room to sit

on a blanket, too. I have a portable hammock chair I normally bring camping that I inherited from the

remains of someone else's complicated breakup (apropos, perhaps?).

Can't get farther from Manhattan than this, I thought, as I drove and drove deeper into the desert, further

than I'd ever gone before.

So. Totally. Worth it.

The Karma Compound featured its premiere production of this nature, and by nature, I mean immersive

theatre, for simple terms. But I'm not particularly keen on that phrase. It feels too "buzz-word-y" to me.

Rather, I would prefer to elevate the experience by suggesting instead that a spectacle of human

performance grew out of the environment simply, but theatrically.

I walked into The Palms restaurant, where The Karma Compound is presenting Fool for Love, to be greeted

by the most beautiful, frankly dream-girl crooner blowing out buttery melody after buttery melody in a

simple red dress that says, "I am living my dream."

There is a bar with a handsome gentleman who is happy to serve you, and as you cozy into that dreamy

state where you can shut down any personal need to fill time and space with your own thoughts and words; you can simply watch the

performance unfold around you.

And then you are brought outdoors, where the majority of the performance takes place.

Sam Shepard's Fool for Love is a memory play, in a sense, which follows the story of May (Lette Allen) and

Eddie (Deacon Ledges) and their highly unusual and toxic relationship. The title of the play does a lot of

heavy lifting when it comes to explaining the plot—which, frankly, the less you know going in, the better, so

I will not say.

The cast also features very convincing and authentic performances by Kevin Bone as The Old Man and

Michael D. Simpson as Martin, as well as the vocalist mentioned earlier, Catt Christine. The production was

directed by Christi Waldon.

The production is a one-act that will potentially leave you with more questions than answers. That is

because Shepard's work was famously nonlinear and psychologically ambiguous, often resisting a "neat"

resolution.

There is a lot of whipping back and forth in this play, which is inherent to the writing style. Further, there is

such extraordinary potential for slow burning tension and release in the material. These two lovers, if you

will, communicate through what could be visualized as children flicking rubber band after rubber band at

each other—but there is something thrilling about, in addition, a rubber band the size of a horse trailer

being pulled tighter and tighter throughout the production, stretching across each exchange, each reversal,

each return, until it finally snaps hard. That is the kind of tension that can take an audience with it.

And I like that.

So, was the acting terrific?

You bet.

Was the tech impressive?

Absolutely.

Moreover, was this just another night at the theatre?

I would say...as far from it as possible.

And yet, as a theatre person, you will fit right in with the folks at The Karma Compound, who are warm,

artistic, and wonderfully impressive.

The theatre world can be so very commercial, so very obsessed with celebrity and sales, that so very often

we fall through the cracks between what is profitable and what is artistic. When you really nail it, of course,

you achieve both.

But when you do the art for the art's sake, when you do the art because it is within you, because it compels

you—that, my friends, is worth an unforgettable night out in the desert for.

And when the actual stars (in the sky, lol) come out after the final moments of the play...

You will be so glad you came.

What a transformative experience.

Thank you to The Karma Compound for inviting me, and on behalf of BroadwayWorld, I hope I can say: people—there are only two performances left. Get yourself there! Major cool points.

In fact, I challenge you to find me someone who did something cooler than you going to see this play.

Go ahead.

Reader Reviews

To post a comment, you must register and login.

Need more Palm Springs Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...

Get Palm Springs Emails & Offers

Get the latest news, discounts & more