Stage Reviews – Suicide in b flat
Backstage West review:
“Sam Shepard’s Suicide in B Flat is one of the playwright’s earlier, more experimental, less mainstream works that stands the test of time. There’s much revelation in the play’s main character, Niles (Nick Toren) who has been described as a cross between music greats, Dylan and Miles Davis, and due to the pressures of fame, devises a somewhat macabre and dramatic plan to deal with the demands and stress of his success.
This run at the Hayworth Theatre, produced by Marie Wong and Scott Werve (who also directs) for Range View Productions, is top notch, with strong and creative direction, great casting and superior acting skills providing the perfect set piece for the real star of the show – Shepard’s magnetic and poetic dialogue. Despite its unusual twists and turns, Shepard’s script is, and has been, outstanding, especially for something written 30 years ago
The cast: Nick Toren (Niles), Patrick Hurley (Pablo), John Ross Clark (Louis), Stephen Kline (Petrone), Sasha Harris (Laureen) and Cynthia Bedkert (Paulette) tackled their parts with near-perfect execution, although John Ross Clark as Louis is the real standout as an exasperated gumshoe detective.
It was a captivating night of theatre, a roller coaster of reactions and emotions, performance and dialogue, with Shepard’s rock ‘n’ roll cowboy at the helm, and the audience, exhilarated, and willingly along for the ride.”
Tolucan Times review:
Sam Shepard, a product of the Yale School of Drama and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, is one weird mother. Often, you are hard pressed to figure out whether his statements are as odd or otherwise anachronistic as they appear — or just merely ironic. The play is a tough one, dealing with the dark side of fame, the inescapability of fate, the heredity of madness. Do you need to kill yourself to live? Could you stop yourself?
The play is alternately subtle and aggressive, always demanding your attention. Many of the plot lines are ambiguous, but seem to be purposefully so. The acting is riveting, and production quality is top notch. The main feature of the set — a cutout of a prone figure — draws your eyes and sets the tone of the piece.
This rarely performed play has the feel of a riff, a series of notes put together, almost at random, that pull together to create its whole. It is a trick to give this piece the discombobulated overtones it requires without driving its audience nuts. Fortunately, the actors and director were clearly up to the task, and it works. It confounds, but not to the point of distraction, and gives you the tools to make up your own mind.
