Theater review: Religion and abortion are worthy topics, but--despite a valiant effort by the cast--the material falls short.

By T.H. McCulloh

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Huntington Beach--The only thing more distressing than a play without a subject matter is a subject matter without a play. The latter is exactly the problem with "In the House of the Lord," Dave Barton and L.A. Margrave's essay into happenings at an abortion clinic.

In a small room at the Huntington Beach Art Center, under Barton's non-existent direction, actors stand on stage, usually in a straight line facing the audience, and deliver the pamphleteering lines.

The story concerns a couple of religious fanatics who invade the clinic, kill the doctor and his receptionist and create terror among those remaining, including some patients. It's all linear and clear-cut, but it's quite amateurish and not in the least dramatic or theatrical in spite of the situation.In one extended scene, bloodthirsty zealot Paul (Steven Parker) has a violent confrontation with confused Nathan, who takes girlfriend Darcie (Montica Reeves) to the clinic after his passionate refusal to wear a condom. Paul's equally zealous wife, Jan (Jenn Ortiz), is simultaneously trying to convert Darcie. Meanwhile, Gail (Susan Shearer), a married woman whose biological clock is running down, and The Nurse (Jody J. Marler), both trussed up with tape, discuss the situation. When bits of one conversation are heard, the other actors are left adrift, looking uncomfortable and glaring at each other until their turn to speak comes around again. The Doctor's (Margrave) preliminary interview with Gail is delivered with each in a spotlight, facing the audience. This and Barton's other pointless attempts to give the piece some visual interest only point up the lack of craft or skill in this project.

Some of the actors are capable and worthy of better treatment by the playwrights and director. Ortiz and Parker try their best to breathe life into their sadistic foray but given only one note apiece by the authors, they have a hard time. Shearer is sometimes touching as the wife who learns her unborn child will be retarded, and as the naive young couple, Rick Brant and Reeves have a sincerity and honesty beyond the vapid script.

"In the House of the Lord," Huntington Beach Art Center, 538 Main St. Friday-Sunday, 8 p.m. Ends Aug 31. $10. (714) 281-6814. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Provocative "House" puts audience in the center of abortion battle

By Kimberly Grice Staff Writer

In the House of the Lordî is an intense drama that brings to the stage the complex issues of abortion for both sexes in the '90s. The play revolves around two fundamentalist Christian activists who enter an abortion clinic and hold the staff and patients hostage in an effort to shut it down. Writer L.A. Margrave and writer-director Dave Barton do an excellent job of tackling such a politically and emotionally charged issue with sensitivity and realism. In the House of the Lordî doesnít take a stand on abortion, but rather shows the anguish many women go through when faced with deciding whether or not to keep their babies. This is not a fairy tale where everyone lives happily ever after; it tragically mimics lifeís realities. Each character has his or her own story. For a few, it is the last story they will ever tell. Steven Parker plays Paul, a right-wing Christian who takes his religious and moral convictions to the extreme of violence. Parker maintains the energy needed to tell the story of his intense character. Paul's wife, Jan, played by Jenn Ortiz, is a scarred and confused woman who doesnít want to hurt anyone. Sheís there to save the unborn children because she believes that God rewards women by giving them babies.

The play begins with the audience entering an abortion clinic (the theater) as "patients" while abortion opponents preach its evils and hand out fliers. The stage is set up like a waiting room, decorated in black, beige and white. Large black-and-white pictures of children with dimpled smiles and innocent eyes hang from the walls and stare at the audience. There is a disturbing contrast between the healthy beautiful children and the grainy photocopy of an aborted fetus given to me before I entered the theater. The only music in the play is the soft sound of hymns being sung by the protestors outside the auditorium. The music creates an eerie tension that foreshadows the tragedy to come. From the beginning, there is an undercurrent of anxiety in the lives of the characters, which climaxes in an explosive scene that is surprisingly unpredictable. Each character is performed so well that you leave feeling as if you were a part of their lives for a time. Not many plays create that kind of intimacy. In real life, the members of the cast have various opinions on abortion and have used those differences to create a snapshot of reality rather than making a political statement.

Evan Henerson

OC Weekly

Credit playwright/director Dave Barton with knowing how to create an atmosphere of intense discomfort and, yes, occasionally a hint of dramatic tension. (Funny what loud blanks and liberally splattered cranberry juice will accomplish.) What he's failed to include is a reason for putting us through this.

Clearly convinced that the debate over abortion isn't in itself good theater, Barton and co-writer L.A. Margrave have constructed a hokey piece of contrived nonsense about two pro-life nutballs who seize a family-planning (read "abortion") clinic at gunpoint, take out the doctor, and hold a handful of patients hostage. In the process, the nutballs and the patients make their case on both sides of the abortion debate with dialogue that seems culled from an 11th grade sex-ed textbook. Characters say,"ìI never thought about it that way before" and make choices,some surprising, most not. This being an abortion debate, the playwrights are very careful not to take a position pro or con, they seem positively in love with their own phony ambiguities.

The production itself has its own problems. As a director, Barton doesn't seem to like his actors to move. An early exchange between the doctor and one of his patients is staged with the two actors standing half-pools of light, staring at the audience; it's only the first of many static scenes. The set, designed by Barton, is a serviceable-enough waiting room, but would a doctor who performs so many abortions that he goes around the office in a bullet-proof vest decorate his waiting room with giant photos of happy, healthy children? Only in Moral Ambiguity Cloud Cuckoo-Land.

In the House of the Lord is a play where some characters don't have names and most don't have dimension. It's a play where plot takes a back seat to cant with the underlying message being, "In the abortion debate, there are no easy answers." If you need to drop $10 and give up two hours of your life to learn that lesson, you have my genuine sympathy.

"In the House of the Lord" Much Too Shocking!

The setting is an abortion clinic. The walls decorated with blown up pictures of smiling children. This is a show about OVER KILL in every way, we, the audience, are supposedly also the patients. The question that is asked"would you still support abortion if a gun was pointed at your head?" Some of what co-authors Dave Barton and L.A. Margrave have to say in their original play,"In the House of the Lord" does cause one to ponder. But the SHOCK value is so-o-o-o stark! I'm wondering if it was after all art? Held ironically in The Huntington Beach Art Center, and presented appropriately by The Rude Guerrilla Theater Company, this production oversteps the boundaries of good taste and is in truth a BLOOD BATH.

I believe an opportunity was greatly wasted, to inform, to educate, entertain, inspire, illuminate, elevate or in some way make a difference. The violence outweighs the message. Realism does definitely have its place in American theater. And it does oft times give to one the feeling of intimacy, drawing one personally into the story. But for me, ìIN THE HOUSE OF THE LORDî was a trip to HELL and had very little redeeming qualities.

When creating or committing oneself totally to any endeavor the main thing to remember is pure intent. In other words, what is the motivation of the artists involved. I believe the actors tried to give of themselves on the whole, fully, purely. Not so the playwrites. Alas, Iíd like to dub them playWRONGS! In this case the fact that they were going for controversy is obvious! Abortion is a very touchy subject to say the least. The story stems around two confused people, a husband and wife who set about to save the unborn babies. I understand that the self righteousness of those deemed, religious Jesus Freaks does at times get too extreme, but to have the husband throw a bucket of blood at the doctor and then murder him and his nurse in cold blood because of something Jesus told him to do, Please? Sure it kept the audience on the edge of their seats and they may even sell out every performance because of curiosity, but I must admit by guest and myself just wanted to leave! Steven Parker as Paul, the one who feels compelled by God to take the law into his own hands and do something to save the babies, is COLD AS ICE, unwavering. His performance is CHILLING. Yes, the character does say something about a previous drinking problem. The guy is all bully and incredibly enacted.

The acting of Jenn Ortiz as his wife Jan is a miracle of complexity. Something very profound was said through the action of her character about victimhood and co-dependency! Susan Shearer/Stewart as Gail gave an incredible performance. It hurt to watch her being tossed about, drug by her hair, then doused with alcohol and almost set aflame! She was the older woman there to abort her unborn child because it would have serious health problems. Her finest scene was after the fact when traumatized she became like a small child and talked about her husband having the same dream. The lady made you weep.

As the young woman who changes her mind and decides after all to have her baby, Monica Reeves provides interesting contrast. That is until her character Darciís anti-climatic moment when she too crosses over the line and commits a crime of supreme violence! Come on guys, that was NOT necessary. TRUTH IS MAGNIFIED on the stage and once again, sad to say, the script carried things much too far! We all got it that she never knew her own mind, NOTHING else was needed. Jody J. Marler as the receptionist, "just doing her job", so her own son would be supported was on the whole quite natural. Some others of the characters unfortunately were painted too black and white for me. For example the "JERK" boyfriend of Darci, Nathan. No one under the circumstances would be that devoid of depth!

There is a moment in the script wherein one of the characters speaks of the situation being like a war. Well, yes, the way it was presented we the audience were caught in the crossfire. What an unpleasant way to spend an evening!

Dave Barton wore the duo hat of director, master of this TITANIC! In all fairness I must say that he did keep his ship moving even after the water started pouring in. There were a few moments that were genuinely touching, but alas they were too few and far between. I must say that also that the very last scene where all of the characters stood in a line and filled in the gaps after the massacre at the clinic was effective. Partly because finally we were allowed to leave the WAR ZONE, or so I thought, Paul, perpetrator of that violence is now an inmate and in prison. Seeing and hearing him read his mail from the general public was an inspired moment! Here we were given a scenario of the ripple effect. Yes, our belief systems and the resulting decisions we make, do most definitely have a profound effect on the quality of our lives! If the writers of "IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD" would go back to their cumulative drawing board and take out some of the violence, unnecessary language and rework a few aspects, it just may be worth seeing, YOU DO HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY! But not yet, I do NOT recommend it, STAY AWAY! Theyíre writing art that shocks, But not for me..LaDonna