Theatre Review: The Witness Room

Posted on March 25, 2024March 26, 2024 by Glamour

The Whitefire Theatre presents the World Premiere of The Witness Room. Written by Pedro Antonio Garcia. Directed by Bryan Rasmussen.

Four NYPD officers, Eli Torres (Dave Baez), Terrence Sampson (Moe Irvin), TJ Moretti (Louie Liberti), and Kevin Brennan (Mitch Rosander), are accused of fabricating evidence to arrest and convict a Puerto Rican man. Defending the cops is Prosecutor Andrea Volpi (Tricia Small), who is intimately familiar with the four cops and their shady record in the police force.

Playwright Pedro Antonio Garcia offers a glimpse of how the justice system works when police misconduct is involved. The code of silence does not apply to the mafia only, specially if planting evidence is in the mix. The immaculate image of justice in textbooks collides with reality in The Witness Room. The four cops searched for evidence, but what if the evidence is not found? Tampering seems to be the easy way to go. Except if a dedicated and inquisitive defense attorney finds inconsistencies in the cops’ testimonies.

One by one, the cops testify in court. And one by one, they start to break under pressure. This is one of the highlights of Garcia’s writing. He worked as a criminal defense attorney and has plenty of material to work with. His play puts a human face to the usual unbreakable figure of authority that a cop projects in our culture. The four cops and the prosecutor are friends, colleagues, and brothers in arms, but they also have flaws and limitations that can jeopardize the integrity of the American justice system.

The play also shows the complicity of the judges to ignore blatant police misconduct, as if convicting corrupt officers would undermine the trust of the public in the authorities. In this case, the judge is willing to go along with the prosecutor’s strategy to save the cops’ positions, ignoring the defendant’s right to a fair trial.

Even though people know the occasional irregularities of the police actions, few people know the backroom deals happening in the courts in any given day. Whether those deals are a detriment to the justice system or an efficient way to clear the backlog of cases on file, that would be a personal opinion. What The Witness Room does is that it presents technical and little known details while bringing the police officers’ perspective to the regular citizen’s level. Much of what is seen in the play is happening in real life on a daily basis. Profiling, racism, corruption, and even cases of depression among police officers are common instances that may trigger aversion or sympathy, depending on who you ask.

The actors deliver gripping performances that convey the conflicting relationship between good and evil and the urgency to cover the basic necessities of life. Director Bryan Rasmussen creates a dynamic staging to marry action and dialogue, keeping the characters on the verge of total collapse. It’s a riveting production with engaging elements of conflict, emotion, and entertainment. Maybe we will have a different perception when we read the phrase “to protect and to serve”.

The Witness Room

The Whitefire Theatre
13500 Ventura Blvd. Sherman Oaks, California.

8 performances only. The play opens Saturday March 23, 8pm and will continue every Saturday night from March 30 through April 27, 2024, at 8pm.

Tickets: whitefiretheatre.com

Written by Pedro Antonio Garcia. Directed by Bryan Rasmussen. Cast: Tricia Small (Salem) as the Prosecutor and Moe Irvin (Ahsoka: Star Wars), Dave Baez (Greenleaf, Dexter), Louie Liberti (ER) and Mitch Rosander (Two Broke Girls) as officers of the NYPD.

Creative team: Set designer Jeff Rack, lighting designer Derrick McDaniel, sound designer Mitch Rosander, costume designer Laura Tiefer, graphic designer Michele King, fight choreographer Bonzai Vitali and casting director Victoria Hoffman.

Theatre Review: Freud on Cocaine

Posted on September 21, 2023September 21, 2023 by Glamour

The world premiere of Freud on Cocaine is presented by the Whitefire Theatre. Written and directed by Howard Skora.

Scarface, get out of the way, here comes Freud! Most people associate Sigmund Freud with psychoanalysis, but not everyone knows about his little dirty secret: His addiction to cocaine. Howard Skora exposes without reservation some of the most shocking details about Freud’s use of cocaine and the consequences on his professional practice and private life.

Sigmund Freud (Jonathan Slavin, Home Front) falls in love with Martha Bernays (Sara Maraffino), but he is broke and Martha’s mother (Sigute Miller) does not approve of him, “he’s not a doctor doctor” she tells Martha. Against all odds, Freud and Martha get married, and like in all great stories, addiction becomes a bond too strong to resist. Soon, Martha and even her mom start using cocaine. Depression? Hysteria? Pain? Addiction to other drugs? No problem, cocaine cures it all.

Freud saw cocaine as a panacea to treat and cure different ailments. When his patient Emma Eckstein (Amy Smallman–Winston) tells him about her hysteria and her proclivity to flying solo, Freud thinks there’s a nasogenital connection and starts prescribing cocaine, getting her hooked to the Devil’s dandruff. Even for his best friend Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow (Aaron LaPlante), Freud has some cocaine to spare to help him cope with pain and his addiction to morphine.

Of course, Freud needed a supplier for his extensive use of cocaine. And what a better drug dealer than Emmanuel Merck (Barry Brisco) from Merck Pharmaceuticals. In exchange of hyping the miraculous benefits of cocaine, Merck provided an endless supply of the powder to Freud. More product, more prescriptions to his patients. And more product available for personal use. But as usual, too much of a good thing it’s just an illusion.

Skora exposes the life of a man who became hugely successful in his profession, but whose relentless motivation to prove his worth lead him to sacrifice his personal life. Freud on Cocaine is a fabric of different textures. It shows the power of love, the effects on guilt, the continuous search of empirical and scientific evidence, but at the end of the day, it shows that Freud was a human being with virtues and shortcomings, just like everyone else. But the main strength of this play is the superb dialogue. It’s an endless stream of comedy from beginning to end. Instead of treating the subject matter as a sea of tears and sorrows, Skora uses his characters as conduits to deliver some of the funniest lines in the contemporary theatre scene. As sinister as it might sound, drugs and comedy relate pretty well with the audience. Personal experiences? Maybe. Make sure you don’t miss this gem. You won’t regret.

Freud on Cocaine

Whitefire Theatre
13500 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

Sept. 8 – Nov. 4
• Friday at 8 p.m.: Sept. 8 ONLY (opening night)
• Saturdays at 8 p.m.: Sept. 23; Sept. 30; Oct. 7; Oct. 14; Oct. 28; Nov. 4 (dark Oct. 21)

Tickets: whitefiretheatre.com

Written and Directed by Howard Skora. Starring Jonathan Slavin, Barry Brisco, Aaron LaPlante, Mitch Rosander, Sara Maraffino, Sigute Miller, Amy Smallman–Winston. Presented by the Whitefire Theatre, Bryan Rasmussen, producing artistic director. Creative team: Scenic designer Dusti Cunningham, costume designer Michael Mullen, and video designer John Knowles.

Theatre Review: Twelve O’Clock Tales with Ava Gardner

Posted on January 20, 2023January 20, 2023 by Glamour

The world premiere of Twelve O’Clock Tales with Ava Gardner is hosted by The Whitefire Theatre. The solo play was written by Alessandra Assaf and Michael Lorre. The director is Michael A. Shepperd.

From her humble origins in Grabtown to the glamorous life of Hollywood, Ava Gardner (Alessandra Assaf) became an icon of beauty and fast life in a career than spanned more than forty years. Twelve O’Clock Tales with Ava Gardner is a homage to the extraordinary life of one of the most alluring stars in the history of cinema.

The play is an insightful compilation of events in the life of an actress/singer who struggle to find her place in the industry. From her rural life in North Carolina, her relationship with her family, and the three marriages and the romantic relationships in between, Assaf presents the complicated personality of a woman who defied stereotypes with her strong will, but also her insecurities and vulnerabilities.

Assaf’s play gives details about what could have been going through Gardner’s mind at the time of each of her marriages and relationships with the people around her. Her marriage to Frank Sinatra and the scandalous incidents during their time together, proved that she could be independent, even helping Sinatra to resurface from a fading career. The play also delves into her abusive relationship with George C. Scott and how Sinatra had to help her out during one of Scott’s violent episodes. Gardner’s friendship with other actresses and their bonding shows how they leaned on each other to navigate the misogynistic attitudes in Hollywood at the time.

Through dialogue and blocking, Assaf, Lorre, and Shepperd offer an entertaining and witty piece that brings memories and spicy details of the iconic life of one of the greatest stars of the golden age of Hollywood, when MGM was one of the Big 5 and Louis B. Mayer was at the helm. The play is a window to the star system and the positive and negative consequences that came with it.

Twelve O’Clock Tales with Ava Gardner

Written by Alessandra Assaf and Michael Lorre. Directed by Michael A. Shepperd. Starring Alessandra Assaf as Ava Gardner. Creative team: Stage Managed by Mitch Rosander Dramaturg: Gregory Gunter. Set, Props, Costumes: Irmgard Quint. Lights: Derrick McDaniel. Sound: Jin Tor Brown. Wig Stylist: Sheila Dorn.

Whitefire Theatre
13500 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

PARKING:
• Metered parking on and just south of Ventura Blvd. (off on Sundays)
• 2-hour parking available in residential neighborhoods (before 6 p.m. only)
• Unrestricted parking available on Moorpark St. and on the west side of Dixie Canyon Ave.

January 15 – March 5:
Sundays at 2 p.m.: 22; Jan. 29; Feb. 5; Feb. 12; Feb. 19; Feb. 26; March 5

Tickets: https://www.whitefiretheatre.com/