Terry Morgan
::STOP PRESS::
Crevasse adds 4 weeks of performances in October
Performances: Oct. 4 – Oct. 27, 2024
• Fridays at 8 p.m.: Oct. 4, Oct. 11, Oct. 18, Oct. 25
• Saturdays at 8 p.m.: Oct. 5, Oct. 12, Oct. 19, Oct. 26
• Sundays at 4 p.m.: Oct. 6, Oct. 13, Oct. 20, Oct. 27
Fans of history can’t help but wish they were there for private, unrecorded conversations between famed historical figures, to be the proverbial fly on the wall and gain insight into what these people were really like. Playwright Tom Jacobson, one of the smartest and most ambitious writers in Los Angeles theater, has delivered just that with his impressive new play, Crevasse, about the meeting of German film director Leni Riefenstahl and Walt Disney in 1938. The world premiere co-production between Son of Semele and The Victory Theatre Center at the Victory Theatre is superb – entertaining, thought-provoking and exquisitely performed.
Riefenstahl (Ann Noble) has traveled to the U.S. to get distribution of her film, Olympia, but due to her outspoken support of Hitler, no studio heads will meet with her, except Disney (Leo Marks). He says he’s a big fan both of her direction of movies such as Triumph of the Will and her earlier acting career. He takes her on a studio tour, showing her animation tools such as the multiplane camera and a Foley stage. Meanwhile, she’s trying to gauge his opinions on the Jewish people and communists, prior to making her big mystery pitch. What she doesn’t know is that Disney has his own reasons for meeting with her, which may throw her plans into disarray.
Marks is disarming and canny as Disney, exuding a Middle American “regular guy” charm that disguises a more pragmatic man within. He is also very good as Riefenstahl’s publicity man Ernst and Goebbels, but he’s indelible as Disney, revealing both the light and dark aspects of the character (including a “Seig Heil” in the Mickey Mouse voice). Noble is excellent as Riefenstahl, capturing every detail of her complicated role with high energy and consummate skill. Riefenstahl attempts to seduce Disney every way she can, including flattery, business offers, implied connection through racism and finally physically, and Noble switches from one ploy after another with a quicksilver agility. It should also be mentioned that she’s extremely funny and sings an entire song in German!
Director Matthew McCray stages the show with admirable speed and precision, making the most of the small space. He’s aided enormously by Evan Bartoletti’s cleverly adaptable set, Nicholas Santiago’s evocative projections, John Zalewski’s resonant sound and Azra King-Abadi’s extraordinary lighting, which turns from black and white wartime reality to bright cartoony Hollywood colors in an instant.
Jacobson’s writing is very strong, compelling and humorous, as in a moment in which Ernst expresses outrage at Goebbels’ attempted rape of Riefenstahl and she waves it off with “Incompetently.” Her line of argument is memorable as well, when Disney tries to state that America is different than Riefenstahl’s people, and she counters with, “Americans are just Germans in disguise!” I have a few quibbles with the piece, from a few too many on-the-nose exposition moments to the Ernst subplot which seems somewhat extraneous, but overall this is an ideal production of a fantastic play.
Crevasse is presented by Son of Semele and The Victory Theatre Center at the Victory Theatre and plays through August 18. Tickets are available at https://thevictorytheatrecenter.org/
Pauline Adamek
