I suppose that Marc Morales' play about a late-night free-for-all among employees, customers, and surreal cinematic forces in a neighborhood chain video store might have once been appealing in a fresh, "Hey, we know those guys!" or "Hey, remember that flick?" or "Yeah, I've felt like that" kind of way. Maybe five or six years ago, when the play premiered in New York with its original ensemble cast, the plot and characters didn't feel like outtakes of movies we've seen too many times. And maybe there was more of a hook when everyone still rented videos. Unfortunately, watching it here and now, I can't help but wish that Galaxy Video would have stayed on the shelves.
Morales also directed the evening and does no favors to his uneven group of actors by letting them go to extremes, which don't serve them or this precarious vehicle well. At the heart of Galaxy Video, theoretically, is a supertalented screenwriter Russel (Evan Olman), who's so afraid of success that he can't escape the trap of working in the video store. The other employees (Asa Holley, Jeremy Ebenstein, Linda Asuma) are so dysfunctional that they treat him as a godhead, as do most of the store's regulars (Justin Young, Vinny Brar, Quynh Samel). Then there's his ex-girlfriend Shelby (Sasha Cole), who so loves him that she doesn't want to stand in the way of his true genius, and customers and ex-employees (Jennifer Lieberman, Matthew Rawles, Donna Carroll, Timothy Steinmetz, Brian Zarate, Christine Tarbet, Gerard Marzilli) with agendas who push his buttons, turn on light bulbs in his head, or otherwise upset the store's time-warp universe.
It's all a strangely 1980s -- or is it '70s, or '90s? -- world that we're supposed to believe the inhabitants are comfortable living in, with obsessed characters repeating movie dialogue and breaking into song; there are even dance numbers and ninja babes moving scenery (Chris Winfield's serviceable video racks). But sorry, this time out it's not someplace an audience wants visit.
Presented by JET Productions West at the NoHo Actors Studio,
5215 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood.
Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m. Mar. 21-Apr. 26. (818) 309-9439.
www.thenohoactorstudio.com.