From Today's LA Times
One-night stand, lifetime of change
"Nothing is enough," goes one repeated motif in "A Beautiful View." The double implications of the phrase are deliberate. In its West Coast premiere at Son of Semele theater, Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor's seriocomic trek across the intangibles of love uses slight means to count for more than their sum.
On its surface, "A Beautiful View" is an experimental exercise. With the house lights still up on the stripped-back space, a woman enters, sets a CD player at center, mimes a "Howdy" gesture and exits. A second woman appears, staring at the boom box, as the first returns with two camp chairs. It's Ionesco lite, as they exchange enigmatic comments and note our presence. Then the lights black out and the double-sided narrative begins.
MacIvor is a genuine iconoclast, and his craft runs deeper than the exposed elements suggest. Two women, both camping aficionados, meet while shopping for tents. Neither identifies as gay, yet their attraction results in one night together. That encounter informs their choices for 20 years, as the back-and-forth account evolves into a reverie on how we revise our histories, ending on a note of quiet tragicomedy.
Under Don Boughton's smooth direction, lighting designer Brandon Baruch lands his crucial cues, from suddenly raised house lights to a starry sky overhead, and Ryan Poulson's sound design and compositions are evocative.
As the two protagonists, Sarah Boughton (the director's daughter) and CeCe Pleasants are captivating. Boughton's physicality and angular way with a line suit her adventurous character, while Pleasants attacks the more reflective role with a nervy spontaneity that wouldn't shame Mary Louise Parker. Their unforced work amounts to a tandem tour de force, and though "A Beautiful View" is pointedly specialized, it is a lovely sight to see.
-- David C. Nichols
"A Beautiful View," Son of Semele theater, 3301 Beverly Blvd., L.A. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Ends April 26. $15. (800) 838-3006. Running time: 1 hour, 15 minutes.