By Bridgette M. Redman
Few things are more mysterious than relationships. The title of the next show on stage at Theatre Palisades may make it sound like a gumshoe mystery, but it is far closer to what its creator, Steven Dietz, calls a “relationship thriller.”
Opening Friday, Nov. 8, and running through Sunday, Dec. 15, “Private Eyes” is a play that challenges the audience to unravel exactly what it is they are seeing. Is Matthew’s wife, Lisa, having an affair with Adrian? Is it a play they are rehearsing? Is Matthew just trying to entertain his therapist?
The mystery comes in unraveling all the deceptions and figuring out the truth — if that is even possible.
The play is the season finale for the nonprofit Theatre Palisades, a show the company’s president, Phil Bartolf, describes as a comedy with a serious undertone dealing with the topic of betrayal.
Michael Allen, who is directing this version of the 1996 play at Theatre Palisades, said that the first time he read the play, he was happily surprised by its humor, depth and truth.
“What’s great about the script is that it changes — like in every scene,” Allen said. “You think it’s one thing, and then it’s another. It’s a play within a play, within a play, within a play. Is this a dream ending to a relationship? Is it their fantasy of what they wish they had done? Or is it them remembering?”
Allen described the story as a couple breaking up in a very public and embarrassing way, a way that the show’s lead, Matthew, really doesn’t want to admit to himself because it is too painful. The show the characters are rehearsing is about a couple breaking up, mirroring their relationship.
“My concept is to play up the humor that is inherent in the script, because the situation is somewhat over the top and ridiculous, if you really think about it,” Allen said. “That’s one thing I love about the theater—you can get away with being over the top and ridiculous because you’re on stage and anything can happen on stage. People will believe it if the actors do so.”
Allen said he loves how the story jumps around, is filled with humor, and yet has a serious undertone of dark subjects such as lost love and betrayal. In fact, because some of the themes are so serious, it has to be a comedy. Allen shared what Dietz himself had to say about “Private Eyes.”
“The play at its core is about the fear of loss,” Dietz wrote in the play’s script intro. “The low-level panic of two people, alone, looking in each other’s eyes, with nowhere to run. Nothing between them but distance. Nothing awaiting them but time. A play about lies must be a comedy, because only laughter can make us recognize truths we’re not fond of. Only laughter is generous enough to hear us out, to listen to our foibles and our familiar debacles…and let us think that next time, next time, it will be different.”
Allen further admires the language that Dietz uses in “Private Eyes.”
“He really is a wordsmith,” Allen said. “There are several scenes in the play where actors are speaking lines of poetry essentially. Those moments are like Shakespeare—all of a sudden, we’re not really in the scene, we are listening to someone’s inner monologue.”
The one thing he isn’t fond of is the title. He said it makes it sound too much like a conventional mystery or detective story. Even Dietz didn’t want that title originally. In the early 1990s, his first version of the play had a staged reading with the Arizona Theatre Company. At that point, it was called “The Usual Suspects.” However, when Christopher McQuarrie released a hit movie with that title, Dietz had to change the play’s name.
Allen, who has performed in several plays at Theatre Palisades, is directing for them for the first time, though he’s directed for other companies in the past and taught acting as an adjunct professor. His theatrical work had slowed since the pandemic, and he was eager to return to the stage.
“I was itching to do something creative,” Allen said. “I’m glad I took it, although I must admit it’s like taking out a second job directing the show.”
Bartolf said Theatre Palisades and Allen are a great match.
“He’s a great guy,” Bartolf said. “We’re delighted he came on board.”
Allen said he runs auditions more like an acting class than traditional try-outs, and the process helped the five people he ended up casting really stand out. It became an easy choice to cast the people in the show, Allen said, actors have gelled quickly into a team.
The cast includes Richard Conolly (Adrian), Erin Galloway (Matthew), Cara Kluver (Lisa), Nikki Marie (Cory) and Richard Osborn (Frank).
Allen also has extensive set-building experience, most recently decorating the set for 39 episodes of the TV show “Lucky Dog.” He’s also designed shows for many small, 99-seat theaters over the years. So, in addition to directing “Private Eyes,” he took on the role of set designer.
The show takes place in a rehearsal studio in the late 1980s and early 1990s. While it was set contemporary when it was written, the ensuing three decades has turned it into a period piece. Allen is painting the set with the colors of the time and infusing pop music from the 1980s and ’90s as well. Actors will sport hairstyles and costumes from the period, which Allen said mixes in dashes of fun.
Ultimately, Allen said, he wants this show to be fun and show the power of hope.
“It’s very funny, but also very relatable to anyone that’s ever broken up with anyone,” Allen said. “It appeals to a wide audience.”
What: “Private Eyes” by Steven Dietz
Who: Theatre Palisades, 941 Temescal Canyon Road, Pacific Palisades
When: Nov. 5 to Dec. 15; 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. on Sundays.
Tickets: $22 general admission, $20 seniors and students, (310) 454-1970
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