The Gift Horse

See Kay Theatre at the Working Stage Theatre

Reviewed by Neal Weaver

May 10, 2010


Most of the characters in this play by Lydia R. Diamond ("Stick Fly") are entrapped by crippling emotional baggage. The central character is Ruth (Ajarae Coleman), a young African-American woman whose psychic wounds, inflicted by her sexually abusive father, make her shy away from emotional relationships with men, latching instead onto her nonthreatening gay best friend Ernesto (Arturo Aranda). Ernesto, in turn, is traumatized when his seemingly perfect lover Bill (Steven Koller) turns out to be a psychopathic liar and phony and infects him with HIV. At Ernesto's suggestion, Ruth seeks counseling with psychiatrist Brian (Horace V. Rogers), who's emotionally gun-shy because of the failure of his first marriage. And when she falls in love with him, she's faced with the fact that relations between therapist and patient are verboten. Also in the mix are a sunny, slightly kooky young cellist, Jordan (Nina Daniels), who seems to be Ruth's alter ego, and sane and sensible Noah (Abraham Smith), who enters Ernesto's life after Bill's departure.

It's a literate, fascinating play with quirky and complex characters, but ultimately it tackles too many issues—from race, parental rape, and AIDS to sexual sterility, marital conflicts, and fear of commitment. What's missing is the central focus that might embrace the disparate elements and lend them emotional impact. Director Benjamin Haber Kamine skillfully stages the individual scenes but can't fill the dramaturgical gaps.

Coleman's Ruth is engaging and persuasive, Aranda's Ernesto touches all the emotional bases of love and loss, and Daniels provides impish, sassy charm and welcome comedy. But the other characters are sketchily written constructs. Steven Koller's Bill suffers from the fact that most of his despicable actions occur offstage, while Rogers struggles valiantly with a role that offers little emotional payoff.

Presented by See Kay Theatre at the Working Stage Theatre, 1516 N. Gardner St., Hollywood. April 23–May 24. Mon., 7 p.m.; Fri.–Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m. (800) 838-3006. www.gifthorsetheplay.com/tickets. 

 
 
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