Review: SUMMER SESSION WITH THE BONES BRIGADE at CV Rep

Summer Sessions with the Bones Brigade, the world premiere now playing at CV Rep was written by Kirby Fields who holds an MFA In playwriting. It takes place in the rural Midwest during the late 1980s, when skate culture was exploding, a big part of Fields’ life growing up during those years. 

The title refers to the Powell-Peralta “Bones Brigade” deck featuring a colorful graphic with a skeleton hand clutching a sword. It is one of the most iconic skateboard graphics of the 80s. The Summer Sessions part refers to summer break, when four teen boys build a halfpipe in the forest to work on their moves. 

There are also two teen girls who are not skateboarders, rather … groupies? Anyway, everybody is a teen, so there is drama and acting out. 

As the play moves forward, we find out why the kids are who they are, and unsurprisingly it’s because of their awful home lifes. When one of them goes missing, we learn the events leading up to his disappearance, and they sort through their feelings.

Ethan Zeph does a fine job as Heath. Good looking and built like a quarterback, Heath has changed from a few years back. He has become, as his best friend Shane (Bonale Fambrini) calls him, an asshole. Shane is dating Sid (Madeleine D. Hall), a girl who seems to have a YOLO mentality, and is besties with Loralai (Keeley Karsten). 

At one point, Sid tells Heath that they’re just alike, and they are - they both manipulate people to get what they want - Heath with his popularity, and Sid with her sexuality. And it didn’t slip past me at the penultimate moment, that Loralai is a manipulator too, but it’s all okay cause they’re kids, ya know?

Our two remaining reluctant acolytes are DK (Akita Komatsu) who has returned to town from some time in San Diego where he reinvented himself, and is hoping it helps him fit in now that he’s back; and Lee (Alex Michell), whose sole purpose seems to be getting that halfpipe finished. He and DK get close enough for Lee to reveal a secret, but DJ betrays Lee. In fact, everyone is betraying someone except Lee and Shane and that’s what most of us call high school. 

All professional actors with quite a few stage, tv and film credits they each do a good job with the material, it is the material itself that is baffling.

Things start off well, we’re rocking to the edgier music of the ‘80s (props to Sound Designer Joshua Adams), and there’s a huge scrim acting as a curtain with videos (Nick Wass) flashing across it which was pretty cool.

Behind the scrim is Jimmy Cuomo’s set: a halfpipe in a forest of tall trees. Moira Wilkie’s lighting design puts us at the end of summer, before the fall. Technicals were all a cohesive beauty to behold. I was all set for some skateboarding theatrical magic. Unfortunately, for my expectations, that’s not what happened.

Although there is a functioning halfpipe on the stage, and the play purports to be about skateboarding, that is misleading. Ten minutes in, we’re watching a choreographed fight/dance that was no Sharks/Jets matchup, but it was okay. Why there was a fight? I think I missed it.

And then we get more anger and violence - this time, within their clique with Heath very much acting the alpha. The only one who challenges Heath is his best friend, Shane, who - as mentioned previously - calls him an asshole. Heath then shows him exactly how big of an asshole he really is, and … you guessed it, betrays Shane. 

All this to say: There is very little skateboarding. Instead, there is some bizarre choreography, and a lot of teen angsting. 

As my row neighbors said as they stood up to leave at intermission, “We just don’t get it.” They weren’t alone. 

I am always excited to see what Karsten is going to bring to the stage, and he’s had more hits than misses. Unfortunately, for me, this was the latter.

That doesn’t mean it’s a bad production - it’s not, it just doesn’t work, for me, as a play. It’s more like a Todd Haynes film - a slow simmer that never reaches full boil. 

I would very much like to shout out the very watchable Akita Komatsu. He was so good, it was one of those moments where you think they just cast some skater dude in the role, but Komatsu is a well-trained actor, and gives us a very tender and revealing moment. Very nice work.

And just as my row “didn’t get it” an elderly women in front of me turned to her two friends and said “that was good” and her two friends agreed. So, I’m not sure who the audience is for this play, but they were not in my row. 

I am, however, looking forward to the rest of Karsten’s season. He has created some magic for us with past productions, and Cabaret, POTUS, and Nice Work If You Can Get It are on deck, and I’m here for it.

CV Rep

*Photo credit: David A. Lee

Cast:

Madeleine D Hall ..... Sid

Keeley Karsten .... Loralai

Akiyo Komatsu ... DK

Alex Michell .... Lee

Bonale Fambrini ... Shane

Ethan Zeph ... Heath

Creative Team:

Adam Karsten ... Director

Karen Sieber ... Movement Director

John M. Galo ... Stage Manager

Jimmy Cuomo ... Scenic Design

Moira Wilkie Whitaker ... Technical Director/Lighting Designer

Joshua Adams ... Sound Design

Emma Bibo ... Costume Design

Ryan Marquart ... Properties Design

Lynda Shaeps ... Hair and Makeup Design

Melina Ginn ... Assistant Stage Manager

Ethan Zeph ... Dance Captain

Set Contruction Crew:

Joshua Adams, Timothy Burr, Jessica Correia, Katie Gilligan, David Atkisson, Gerry High, Frank Kidd, Alijah McGrail, Joaquin Ticonderoga

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