Sometimes, an unrelated event can reflect so much of who we are as society. On The Other Hand, We’re Happy is a play where a couple delves into the options they have once they find out they’re unable to conceive a baby. As they choose to adopt, their own ideas of what’s acceptable or not, become a mirror of who they are and where they stand on many issues.
The stage of the Matrix Theatre allows the audience to get closer to the story and the characters. This is an intense play where playwright Daf James and director Cameron Watson make a great use of the stage to get a more active audience rather than just a passive one. The topics in the play related to gender, health, life experiences, and expectations resonate as rhetoric questions we have probably asked ourselves at some point in our lives and they’re even more pungent and uncomfortable in this era of political correctness. When we face important decisions that will affect the rest of our lives, we question many things to the point where we might get surprised how scared or insecure we are in life.
The intensity of the story is accentuated by the clever use of lighting, sound effects, and kinetics. The stage direction is remarkable, specially with bare minimum props on stage. This is a play where the performances take the story to another level. Rori Flynn playing Abbie/Emma and Christian Telesmar playing Josh/Liam, go from excitement, to insecurity, to sadness with ease, peppering their dialogue with humor to cover a wide spectrum of the conscious experience. Alexandra Hellquist, as Kelly, delivers a fierce and witty performance that feels raw and animalistic, and a subliminal take on the maternal instinct even on the verge of giving away her own daughter for adoption.
On The Other Hand, We’re Happy is a play where love, hope, and redemption intertwine to make us think and make us laugh, no matter what life throws at us.
On The Other Hand, We’re Happy
Playing at the Rogue Machine (in the Matrix Theatre)
7657 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046
(Street parking)
Opening: 8pm on Saturday, February 26, 2022
8pm Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays, 3pm Sundays
Closing: April 10, 2022
Tickets: www.roguemachinetheatre.net
Playwright: Daf James
Directed by: Cameron Watson
Produced by John Perrin Flynn and Justin Okin (A Rogue Machine Theatre Production)
Staring: Rori Flynn (Abbie/Emma), Alexandra Hellquist (Kelly/Tyler), and Christian Telesmar (Josh/Liam).
