Astronomical Sunset

Were this a couple of weeks before Halloween and not after, the world premiere of Robert Lewis Vaughan's Astronomical Sunset would be a fine choice to awaken the scary and frightful feelings that we associate with that spirited holiday, but given our theatrical expectations outside of that window—including catharsis, character development, and dramatic arc—the new play leaves us unsatisfied.

Allison Watrous as Liz and Brian Landis Folkins as Jim Photo: Michael Ensminger, Curious Theatre Company

In set designer Greg Loftus' impressively detailed modern ranch house, we meet Jim (Brian Landis Folkins), a paranoid business man who has recently achieved viral notoriety regarding a scandal that is never quite spelled out. His lovely and loyal wife, Liz (Allison Watrous), is doing her best to put their lives back together.

They have recently moved back to Liz' childhood home from out-of-state, in the hopes of regaining some semblance of anonimity. A couple of teenagers from down the block, Lily (Lynnsey Ooten) and Jared (Ben Sloane), grandchildren of one of Liz' childhood neighbors, begin to visit Jim and Liz on a regular basis, in an attempt to help them through this difficult time.

As Jim prowls around the house with a baseball bat in the dead of night looking for intruders, Jason Ducat's sound design combined with lighting designer Shannon McKinney's play of spooky shadows has us on the edge of our seats.

(L to R) Brian Landis Folkins as Jim and Ben Sloane as Jared Photo: Michael Ensminger, Curious Theatre Company

Not until the show builds to its climax is the psychological and spiritual subtext of the script is revealed. This is by far the most interesting aspect of the story, but comes too late to triage the damage from earlier conversations that come off as insipid dialogues between what seem to be real characters.

Vaughn's inspiration for this exploration of "angels and demons" is the macabre and pessimistic H.P. Lovecraft, a pioneer of what has come to be known as "weird fiction." Tragedy, in this context, often loses its redemptive qualities, as is the case in this script, with little arc to Jim's or Liz's personalities.

(L to R) Allison Watrous as Liz and Lynnsey Ooten as Lily Photo: Michael Ensminger, Curious Theatre Company

What appears as invasiveness on the part of Lily and Jared has the potential for much greater insight were Liz' and Jim's relationships with these alter egos clearer from the start. Some Pinteresque deconstruction and a mirror on the set could go a long way here.

Folkins does okay with the minimal leeway provided his character in script, holding Jim in a frazzled, and remorseful state, incapable of heeding any advice, external or internal. More disturbing is that we never learn enough about the incident that precipitated his downfall to care what happens to him. This could be as simple as making Jim's company responsible for the software that, when misapplied, allowed the troubling results which he bemoans.

The sane one in the bunch, Liz, garners some sympathy as she attempts to bring light into the dark world enfolding Jim; however, in conveying this, Watrous faces an uphill battle, since there is little physical interplay between the married couple: The audience is being asked to invest their emotions in a psychological and spiritual game of chess, where each of the characters is confined to his or her own square. This is the cynical crux of the genre—people are unable to see how they're connected to each other.

Lynnsey Ooten as Lily, Brian Landis Folkins as Jim, and Ben Sloane as Jared Photo: Michael Ensminger, Curious Theatre Company

Lily and Jared energize the proceedings—if only by their extreme neuroses—Ooten as a control freak, flying full tilt through a series of organizational and attitudinal bromides, and Sloane as a demon, slithering his way into our subconscious as a nightmarish apparition, like Jim Morrison on belladonna. If the power of these spirits had the power to alter Jim's and Liz' path, say Lily on Jim and Jared on Liz (the opposite of the script), the dynamics could be compelling and add an O Henry twist to what is now two linear journeys in opposite directions.

Curious Theatre Company's world premiere of Robert Lewis Vaughn's Astronomical Sunset, directed by Chip Walton, runs through December 4th. 303-623-0524 or online at www.curioustheatre.org.

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