‘Secret Order’ docs battle cancer, each other

Tom Titus

The quest to discover a cure for cancer certainly is among the

weightiest of causes, but its technical nature has kept playwrights

from exploring its potential as theatrical fodder -- until now, that

is.

With “The Secret Order,” Bob Clyman delves into the research

laboratory, and the psyches of its inhabitants. The West Coast

premiere of this intriguing drama currently inhabits the stage of the

Laguna Playhouse.

Medical research not only is an intricately complex subject, it’s

also not a particularly enthralling topic for dramatic literature.

The playwright runs the risk of writing over the heads of most of his

audience, so his characters had better be unusually interesting.

To address that dilemma, Clyman has borrowed a theme from Rod

Serling’s “Patterns,” substituting a renowned cancer institute for

the executive suite of a mighty corporation. Here the domineering

chieftain recruits a young hotshot and attempts to ease out an older

colleague, but in this case the latter refuses to go gently into the

good night.

Also, the boy wonder proves to be a bit flawed, which has the

effect of putting his Nobel Prize on hold -- and his career in

jeopardy.

Add a fourth figure, a brilliant young female lab assistant, and

the stage is set for some high-level intrigue, splendidly amplified

by director Michael Sexton.

The young medical hotshot is convincingly rendered by Zak Orth,

who falls into the trap of desiring too much too soon, despite his

steadfast attempts to avoid just that fate. Orth, his shirttail

perennially untucked, strives doggedly to maintain his focus despite

the twin sirens of fame and romance beckoning from opposite

directions.

While Orth is the central figure, the power in “The Secret Order”

emanates from Daniel Von Bargen as the cancer center’s iron-fisted

director. Von Bargen’s championing of young Orth re-ignites his own

inner fires, and his strong, precise delivery (rendering every “a” in

his dialogue as “ay” rather than “uh,” for example) underscores his

total command.

Howard Witt also impresses as the elderly medico, a crafty veteran

of the research wars, approaching 70, who could step down with

dignity intact, but recoils at being forced out. His folksy demeanor

masks a steely resolve which Witt establishes splendidly.

The youthful near-genius who bluffs her way into a lab assistant’s

job, then jeopardizes it with her unbridled, opinionated attitude, is

the extra dash of spice which seasons this play. Shayna Ferm enacts

this role with an intellectual passion that could easily turn into

the physical variety. Although basically an unfinished character, she

proves to be a key element at the final fade-out.

The various laboratory interiors, along with a few exterior

locales, are impressively designed in ultra-modern mode by Narelle

Sissons and enriched by Paulie Jenkins’ lighting choices. Mark

Rosenthal’s rear-screen projections, illustrating the cancer cells

under a microscope, serve the production exceedingly well.

“The Secret Order,” which may have a Broadway production in its

immediate future, began its life in New York’s Ensemble Studio

Theater.

The Laguna production only enhances its momentum.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Coastline Pilot.