If you had to choose between an engineering project that could significantly help combat global warming or honoring the rights of Native American lands and burial grounds, which would be right? Typically when we are presented with quandaries about global warming or reparations for indigenous peoples, we get a black-and-white story with an aggressor and victim — one group is on the right side of history, the other is not.
"Dream Catcher," written by Stephen Sachs and now making its world premiere at the Fountain Theatre, eliminates this ability to take the moral high ground. It forces its characters and its audience to live in a grey area and grapple with questions of science, spirituality, and moral certitude.
The play takes place in the Mojave desert and is essentially an 80-minute argument under the desert sun between its two characters, Roy (Brian Tichnell) and Opal (Elizabeth Frances). Roy is an engineer who is seeing his greatest dreams realized as a member of the team designing and building a solar energy plant. Opal is a young Mojave Indian woman who is torn between her passionate affair with Roy and her call to protect a sacred site of her people. Both individuals are deeply flawed, and as they volley threats and seductive come-ons at each other, the audience ping-pongs between who they should side with.
Masterfully directed by Los Angeles treasure Cameron Watson, the play pulses with anger and sex. The Fountain Theatre is known as the premiere home of Flamenco dancing in Los Angeles and "Dream Catcher" seems another iteration of this — a heat-filled dance between two equal partners. Opal and Roy both desperately seek validation from each other as they attempt to unravel who has manipulated and lied to the other more, all within the context of an age-old battle between science and faith.
As a performer in his hit revival of "Picnic" and one of his acting students, I have had the privilege of watching Cameron Watson direct firsthand. He is finely attuned to the needs and concerns of both his actors and the text, and his gifts are amply on display in this production. For Watson, his productions are always about telling the truth and the raw beating heart at the core of each character and performer. This play takes those instincts to visceral extremes, as the characters caress, claw at, and castigate each other. In such an intimate setting, any false moves would be immediately visible to an audience. It speaks to both Watson's attention to detail and the talents of his actors that no such moment arises.
The two actors carry the 80-minute play with no breaks, both occupying the stage for the full running time. It is a marathon of a performance, pushing the actors to physical and vocal extremes, as they come at each other like feral cats in heat and tear each other down with screaming matches to put Albee's George and Martha to shame (though the flagrant language at use is perhaps more reminiscent of a Scorsese film).
During rehearsals, the production team rehearsed in the desert, and this comes to life vividly on stage. The actors drip with sweat, and you feel the heat preying on them, particularly Roy, throughout. The set and lighting easily help you join them in this space; to get to your seat, you must edge across the sand and rock-filled space. Staged in the round, the play makes you feel the stifling oppression of its setting — strange, given that a desert should be a wide, open space.
The play is unrelenting, and in such close quarters, it can be uncomfortable and exhausting to watch two people emotionally and verbally eviscerate each other. The only relief comes in moments of sexual tension when you fear the actors might actually tear each other's clothes off in front of the entire audience –moments that feel as violent and violating as the fights. The script would benefit from slightly more ebbs and flows. Yet, it supports the characters in the courage of their convictions, as they fight to convince the other to see the value of their ideals, scientific or spiritual. Ultimately, they are left in a moral quagmire, forced to confront their values and the selfish aims underlying their dogged pursuit of the "greater good."
If you're looking for a volatile production that leaves you shaken and with more questions than answers, "Dream Catcher" has much to offer.
"Dream Catcher" is now playing at the Fountain Theatre (5060 Fountain Avenue) through March 21st. Tickets begin at $15. For more info, visit www.FountainTheatre.com.
To contact staff writer Maureen Lee Lenker, follow her on Twitter @maureenlee89 or email her at maureenlee08@gmail.com.
Annenberg Media