WHITE RABBIT , RED RABBIT AT THE FOUNTAIN

Nassim Soleimanpour's   White Rabbit, Red Rabbit is a trip to the Circus unlike any scripted theatre piece I've ever seen or heard about.  It's a challenge for the actor and for the audience. Really.. and very exciting.. 

According to Raymond O. Caldwell, Artistic Director of the Fountain Theatre..  it is not a play but AN EXPERIENCE.. True true true.. 

Virtually anything might happen. Actually, this was a wonderful challenge for me personally as a critic and a member of the audience.  Dramatic tesion falls to the actor reading the script for the first time and the audience ..hopefully.. right on board. One performance for each actort. One shot.

 

Poor you!!!  

and grateful me.. 

Sandra Tsing Loh was up ..  her one performance. A totally cold read. Sandra was handed the script in a sealed envelope and away we went. 

This 'review' is of a one time experience.  Only I and about 43 other audience members now are a band of brothers and sisters who are uniquely bonded by the circumstances of a Sunday trip to.. the Circus.. Tsing Loh is an exceptional performer. Others in the audiece participated.  The  Bear and the Rabbit rocked.   Cheers!

 

    Every production is Opening Night. Every show is brand new. Every iteration features only one actor.  No director.  There's a brightly stark beauty of a set echoing the white rabbit red rabbit theme.

The press release says that this is an examination  of power and authority and our reaction to the author's message. He speaks personally to us through his text.   His blood type is O+..

This caveat comes with the press invitation:

" (from the playwright): This play is NOT overtly political, and should not be portrayed as such. It operates on a deeper, metaphoric level, and very expressly avoids overt political comment." 

 

Wow!

The beauty of this amazing idea is that the flow and success of the script turns on how committed the actor is to following the stage directions and to what degree the audience comes to their aid.  Totally presentatonal.. except maybe the rabbit and the bear briefly.. It all worked.  

The business of the White Rabbit and Red Rabbit experiment is a little hard to report. I wish I had the script to refer to. I'd like to see if I could report it properly.  Science:  Behavorial Science is this part. When you go to see YOUR perforance, pay attention..     Bring a carrot. 

There may or may not be poison. There may or may not be danger. The contemplation of seventeen plus one ways to commit suicide are delivered fraught with the question "What if.." Pay attention.. Lives may be at stake!  

Sandra Tsing Loh

Sandra Tsing Loh

was the featured actor for this performance. She's a pistol from NPR and her other ventures including a lot of books and a Christmas show I loved at East West Players a while back.   

Check your expectations at the door and wade in prepared to be challenged to participate. Please pay  careful attention to the metaphor of the Rabbits. 

Irene Lacher was tasked to read the final few pages of the scriptt, enthusiastically acted out by Ms Loh.  Irene was as fully committed as Sandra had been to the  directions in the script.  Great Hair!

Set design and lighting by The Fountain Staff.

You'll want to see it again.  I hope the Fountain may entertain an idea to encourage appreciative audiences to return.  I hope to. And, there's baklava!

Photo credit Simon Levy

WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT 

by  Nassim Soleimanpour 

WHEN:
May 11 through June 22:
• Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 8 p.m.
• Sundays at 2 p.m. except Sunday, May 11 which is at 7 p.m.
Every Monday, the Fountain will roll out the names of the “rabbits” (performers) on their website and social media who are set to take the stage that week.

WHERE:
The Fountain Theatre
5060 Fountain Ave.
Los Angeles CA 90029
(Fountain at Normandie)

TICKET PRICES:
$25 – $45:
• Premium Seating: $45
• Regular Seating: $40
• Seniors 65 or older: $35 (regular seating only)
• Students: $25 (valid ID required)
• Monday nights: Regular seating ($40) and Pay–What–You–Want (subject to availability)

PARKING:
• Secure, on-site parking: $5
• Street parking available in the neighborhood north of Fountain Ave.
• No parking after 6 p.m. on Mariposa or Alexandria Avenues south of Fountain Ave.
• Allow extra time to find street parking; make sure to read all parking signs

HOW:
FountainTheatre.com
(323) 663-1525