By Cynthia Citron
LOS ANGELES — It’s all about music, but nobody plays any. It’s called Broadsword, but there appears to be some sort of taboo about mentioning the name and nobody on stage ever utters it. And though it sounds like it should be a swashbuckler, nobody swashes or buckles.
Broadsword is the name of a four-man band that broke up with great animosity some 16 years before the play begins. Now, three of the members have come together for the funeral of the fourth, Richie, their lead guitarist, who vanished mysteriously, leaving only his footprints behind.
The men have gathered in Richie’s hideously tacky bedroom in the basement of his mother’s house in Rahway, New Jersey, to reminisce and let off steam. They are Victor, the bassist (Blake Robbins), Nicky, the drummer (Kenneth Allan Williams) and Tony (Tim Venable), who was their singer. He is also Richie’s brother, who precipitated the breakup of the band by choosing to go solo.
Armin Shimerman, who plays an agent (and maybe the devil), begins the play with a brilliant soliloquy demonstrating how he lured Tony away from the band and into a solo career that failed miserably.
Now Tony has returned home for the first time, and Nicky and Vic have a chance to reproach him for his betrayal just at a time when, as Nicky says, “We almost started doing something right.”
Unexpectedly, they are joined by a stranger, Dr. Thorne (Morlan Higgins), a musicologist who has been corresponding with Richie for years as they searched together for a series of “forgotten tones” that, if discovered, would have serious consequences.
Dr. Thorne has brought with him Richie’s last letter: a piece of music scored for three players that Richie believed contains the tones they had been looking for. Dr. Thorne believes it as well, because when his young daughter stumbled onto the music and played it on the piano, she, too, disappeared.
Marco Ramirez’ remarkable play is filled with magic and mystery, unexpected plot diversions, and engaging characters. Mark St. Amant, who directs, has a cast of extraordinarily fine actors to work with, and so the spooky fairytale story is delivered so expertly that it almost seems credible.
The set, designed by Kurt Boetcher, is filled with all the electronic gear and accoutrements that an obsessive recluse would need in order to spend every waking moment searching for new sounds. And lighting designer Leigh Allen has provided a spotlight for each of the actors to individually move the story forward.
It’s a lively, thoroughly interesting production now having its west coast premiere at the Black Dahlia Theatre, 5453 West Pico Blvd., in Los Angeles. It will run Thursdays through Sundays at 8 p.m. through July 31st. Call 800-838-3006 or visit www.thedahlia.com for tickets.
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Citron is Los Angeles bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World. She may be contacted at cynthia.citron@sdjewishworld.com