Los Angeles Theatre Review: To Quiet the Quiet at the Elephant Stages

Lisa Richards, Stephen Mendillo

To Quiet the Quiet premiered in the Elephant Space of the Elephant Stages last night to a full house and standing ovation. Barbara Bain directed the three person production starring Lisa Richards, Michael Friedman, and Stephen Mendillo. The timeless setting involves protagonist Kathy (Richards) in the security of her kitchen, "central to a home and a woman's life," Bain recently shared with me. On the surface, the daffy spinster has a bit of an attention deficit disorder and there's nothing like a good breathing exercise to keep her focus in check--something many of us can relate to. Luckily for her, she has Quinn (Michael Friedman with his deep, resonant voice), a strapping, young hunk of a man who is her red-suspendered counselor of sorts. He's her point of reference when her memory clouds over--her beacon of light to regain her footing. Details about her life are impressed upon, finely tuned, and revisited often much to Kathy's chagrin. But, everything rides on her endurance if, as Bain put it, she is to "get everything she wants." The ending is a real jaw-dropper and for those unjaded types, a bit shocking--something The Exorcist recently attempted.

Michael Friedman, Lisa Richards 

There are clues aplenty buried in this slowly unfolding tale. Nothing more can really be said about the plot that one can't find out for themselves by going to see the show. Richards captures Kathy's distracted, nervous energy from the get-go. Her comic timing is shrewd and she has a sexiness that is both tender and desperate. Every now and then, the playful minx will cop a feel or steal a whiff of masculine scent as if it's the closest she'll ever get to the real thing. She's like a magnet in search of something to attach herself to. Her success depends on which side she uses that attracts or repels. Her more emotional deliveries are riveting and heartbreaking, and, rather swiftly, she can erase all traces of fragility with her dismissive laugh. Richards' husband Mendillo plays good man Todd to a "T." The cast is solid and, together, share wonderful chemistry. Matt Richter's sly lighting is simple and unobtrusive, complete with a soundless soundtrack. Joel Daavid's abstract Santa Fe-ish color schemed kitchen is quite a little marvel. The clearly domestic set has no specific setting (as none is really required), other than being post-World War II, with a fractured background, topped off with puzzle-like end pieces. And it's director Bain who deserves accolades for putting them all together to fit just so perfectly together.

Lisa Richards on Joel Daavid's set

Playwright Christy Hall yearned to make a mystery that harkens back to plays of yesteryear like The Mousetrap and The Woman in Black. And, she wanted to hold the audience's attention for ninety minutes without intermission, before sending them on their merry (or stunned) way. She has certainly accomplished everything she set out to do and, additionally, one might say, created a sinister valentine to an all too commonly marginalized part of our society. She even manages to add a cherry on top of the sundae for the theatregoer--a whole bowl of them, actually. Get thee to the Elephant, so you can experience Hall's brilliance for yourself. You have until August 12th to buy tickets here. Not to would be a crime, or, at the very least, a misdemeanor.