L.A. Review: 'The Nina Variations'

Steven Dietz's much-produced 1996 deconstruction of Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull" might seem a conventional Hollywood Fringe Festival entry, but nothing is ordinary about its beautifully judged take at the Complex's Flight Theatre.

In Will Play for Food Theatre Group's inaugural outing, Dietz's series of 40-odd vignettes—based on the final encounter between "The Seagull"'s hapless Treplev and Nina—registers with appealing vitality. Director Scott Marden divides the play's two-handed roster between three Treplevs and three Ninas, diluting certain virtuoso aspects but heightening the theatrical impact immeasurably. Credit Marden's unfussy black-box staging and his gifted cast: seriocomically poised Shashona Brooks and Max Kleinman; aptly contemporary Olivia Schlueter-Corey and Garrett Liggett; and fervently old-school Marisa Persson and Mikie Beatty.

Their seamless interaction offsets the chief liability—familiarity with Chekhov's classic is something of a prerequisite for fullest comprehension of Dietz's invention—and brings these vivid "Variations" to acute, moving, and memorable life.

Presented by Will Play for Food Theatre Group as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival at the Complex, 6476 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. June 14–24. Remaining performances: Sat., June 16, 2 p.m.; Thu., June 21, 11 p.m.; Sat., June 23, 2 p.m.; Sun., June 24, 5:45 p.m. (323) 455-4585 or www.hollywoodfringe.org.