Play is a disturbing dose of surrealism

After a trio of scintillating and visceral shows that mirrored

reality almost too much, VS. Theatre Company gets surreal with

“Beggars in the House of Plenty.” Now running at The Victory Theater

Center in Burbank, John Patrick Shanley’s tedious yet effective story

never quite connects with the audience despite a top-notch cast.

While past shows by the daring company have sizzled with action

that made you feel like part of the intense explorations as they were

happening on stage, “Beggars” is a play that revels in its more

heightened version of the facts. It’s a touchy conceit that does have

its moments, but leaves you feeling cold in the long run.

The drama that swirls around Johnny (Johnny Clark) is loosely

based on playwright Shanley’s own memories as the youngest member of

an Irish Catholic family. The sensitive youth is seen recalling

specific formative moments in his past as he struggles to come of age

in a house filled with such craziness.

There’s the glaring eye of his nearly psychopathic father (Eddie

Jones), the strange comfort of his matter-of-fact mother (Annie

Abbott), the rantings of his ditsy sister (Kimberly-Rose Wolter), and

the troubled yet always evolving relationship with his brother Joey

(Jeffrey Stubblefield).

As the years go by, we see Johnny slowly figure out which good and

bad experiences have shaped his own existence. It dawns on him that

certain traumas will actually color his work as a writer the rest of

his days.

Veteran actor Eddie Jones is, at turns, terrifying and silly as

the blood-soaked butcher. He spends almost the entirety of one scene

chopping at a big slab of meat as if it were the brains of his

children. As his steadfast wife, Abbott has moments of bizarre

behavior that go beyond the already absurd background. Wolter’s

character is around way too briefly, perhaps because that’s the way

Shanley remembers her.

Clark’s take on Johnny is the latest in his string of “every-dude”

roles. He excels once again at being the straight man to the endless

insanity surrounding him, but it would be nice to see him stretch one

day into a role like, well, Joey. Stubblefield’s percolating rage and

spittle-drenched chin as the haunted brother is by far the best

example of how to convey buried demons bubbling to the surface. His

explosions are the only palpable thing left to grasp in a show filled

with such unreality.

The set design by John Williams is most impressive in the last

scene in a creepy basement where Johnny is visited by the ghosts of

his broken family. A final showdown between father and son is bathed

in the red glow of a furnace as thick smoke spills into the audience.

Sometimes the inner workings of someone’s mind isn’t the most

pleasant thing to witness, and even these great actors can’t connect

completely when the source material is so grim. That’s not to say you

shouldn’t catch “Beggars” on a Thursday or Sunday, just not a Friday

or Saturday when the object of your evening is escapism.

FYI

WHAT: “Beggars in the House of Plenty” by John Patrick Shanley,

produced by VS. Theatre Company

WHERE: The Victory Theatre Center, 3326 W. Victory Blvd., Burbank

WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays until

Oct. 9

TICKETS: $25

Contact: (18) 841-5421; www.vstheatre.org and

www.thevictorytheatrecenter.org

* JAMES PETRILLO is a screenwriter and actor from Glendale.