Review: A Devil at Noon Opens the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre
“A Devil at Noon” opened to a full house at Actors Theatre's 318-seat Bingham Theatre, launching the Humana Festival of New American Plays, Louisville’s signature arts event for the 35th year. The Humana Festival brings national attention to the city, as the theater world focuses on what is to the stage what the Sundance Festival is to independent film.
Six full-length plays premier in 2011, and performances continue through April 3, 2011.
“A Devil at Noon” is written by Anne Washburn. The story is about science-fiction writer Chet Ellis (Joseph Adams), who proclaims early on that he’s done hallucinogens and doesn’t see his drug use as a problem. He’s visited by Lois (Rebecca Hart), who he met at an addiction meeting but can’t figure out how she got to his place. She won’t tell him her last name yet eagerly seduces him, which leads to a conversation that includes some real writing gems.
The play is set in 1981 Berkeley, California, and a political discussion ensues in which Lois mentions her thoughts on “Ronald,” her president. She’s not really political, or knowledgeable, she says: “Why bother spending all that time getting informed when I’m not changing my opinion anyway.”
In the end, there’s some question as to whether this whole thing is part of Ellis’ imagination, because he’s got receipts for places that don’t exist, and he can’t figure out how Lois found him. He’s writing a book, and maybe Lois is just a fictional character in the book. Is he imagining her? She says she’s not a fan of his, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t read his work. She has the ability to know what he’s going to write the next day, even before he does. The audience is left to figure out what’s real and what’s imagined.
The play drags a bit, especially when Ellis spends time making coffee and puttering around his kitchen with imaginary utensils, complemented with well-timed sound effects. And there’s a pair of detectives rummaging around in his apartments, an odd character who’s new to a job in Section 8, and a strange Moon Man who rises up and turns the moon on and off.
Washburn credits the late Bay Area author Philip K. Dick for inspiration in the work, focusing on the alternate realities that were Dick's stock-in-trade.
Posted on Mar 3, 2011 by Rick Redding
