LA Review: 'Very Still and Hard to See'

Steve Yockey's new play "Very Still and Hard to See" is an eerie excursion into the surreal and the supernatural, combining elements from modern ghost stories and Japanese folk tales and centered on events in and around a very strange hotel. While the building is under construction, its architect, Buck (Andrew Crabtree), tumbles into a hole on the site. He plummets into a subterranean cavern occupied by an enigmatic, threatening, and possibly cannibalistic woman, Obake (CB Spencer), and her sinister henchmen, Kami and Shikigami. She demands that Buck move his hotel to a spot directly over her head. He initially refuses, but she promises him that if he meets her requirements, he will obtain the thing he most desires—and there are hints that his desires are pretty dark. If he refuses, he must face dire consequences. He acquiesces, and the hotel is built but continues to be cursed by Obake's malign influence.

A series of bizarrely inexplicable events follows. An unfaithful husband (James Louis Wagner) and his neurotic wife (Katherine Skelton) find that a huge, bottomless hole has appeared in their kitchen floor. A young man (Crabtree) is transformed, very much against his will, into a canary. A cheery young woman who doesn't like vacations (Adeye Sahran) is pressured to go on one with her insensitive husband. When a terrible storm breaks out, she turns on him violently. The elevator man (Coleman Drew) in the 14-story hotel takes a guest to the 23rd floor. The architect's granddaughter (Tiffany Cole) reveals to her husband (Michael Tauzin) the nature of the dark hungers that Obake promised to sate for her grandfather.

Director Michael Matthews has given the piece a terrific stylized, ritualistic production on the uncredited set, which features two huge concentric circles drawn by the actors on the floor. The script combines comedy with menace, short on explanations but full of startling implications. Tim Swiss' lighting and Cricket S. Myers' sound contribute richly to the spooky atmosphere.

The eight actors demonstrate their versatility by playing two or more characters each. They take the script's fantastic situations in their stride and act them exuberantly. Spencer sets the tone right away by sitting on a chair and directing her dangerous Mona Lisa smile at the audience, creating an instant sense of nervous unease.

If I have any quibble, it's that we could have used a program note to explain the nature of Obake, Kami, and Shikigami, the Japanese spirits, gods, and demons that populate and propel the tale.

Presented by the Production Company at the Lex Theatre, 6760 Lexington Ave., Hollywood. June 1–July 7. Fri. and Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. (No performance Sun., June 10.) (800) 838-3006, www.brownpapertickets.com, or www.theprodco.com.