GOTM THEATER REVIEW: BRIGHT HALF LIFE at The Road Theater, NOHO

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BRIGHT HALF LIFE at The Road Theatre in North Hollywood is nothing less than exhilarating; genuine theater baddassery in your face – empathetic and very personal. Sit up front.

Written by Pulitzer Prize nominee Tanya Barfield and directed by Amy K. Harmon, the Los Angeles premiere of BRIGHT HALF LIFE is the beautiful and heartbreaking love story of lesbian, interracial couple Erica (Tiffany Wolff) and Vicky (Kacie Rogers), and the evolution of their life and marriage together.

Set from 1985 to 2031, there is almost no set, no props, no projections, and no blackouts. Yet, this play is so robust in its dialog and intention that everything physical, as well as incorporeal, is vividly clear. In fact, exceptionally so.

The play rapidly rewinds and fast-forwards decades in an instant without even a hair’s breadth of pause at any time during the performance. And although jarring at the beginning, the pacing becomes addictive with its progression.

The writing is exquisitely simple and smart. Dialog is intense and extremely economical, specific yet obscure. Scenes are a spatial collection of random points where each represents a time and location that seem to float in their own reality. Rogers and Wolff wield a lightning bolt of controlled and unhinged vulnerability that hovers at all times between effervescent glide to total free fall. As a couple and as individuals, they are truly magnificent.

There isn’t anything “comfortable” about this play and that is its excitement. Audiences can’t just sit back and chill out with this one. BRIGHT HALF LIFE grabs you and takes you on the ride of Erica and Vicky’s life to the closure of their relationship – all the ups and downs, the triumphs and disappointments. It is stunningly real, raw, and absolutely, painfully gorgeous.

VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

BRIGHT HALF LIFE

Written by Tanya Barfield

Directed by Amy K. Harmon

Starring: Kacie Rogers as Vickie and Tiffany Wolff as Erica

Scenic Design by Brian Graves; Lighting Design by Derrick McDaniel; Sound Design by Marc Antonio Pritchett; Costume Design by Mary Jane Miller.

Runs: Friday, April 8 – Sunday, May 22, 2022

Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 2pm through Sunday, May 8.

Performances continue in repertory beginning Thursday, May 12 at 8pm; Saturdays at 2pm & Sundays at 7:30pm through Sunday, May 22.

There will be no performances April 29, April 30 or May 1.

Previews: Monday, April 4; Tuesday, April 5 & Wednesday, April 6 at 8pm

The Road Theatre, 10747 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601

Tickets: $39.00

Students/Seniors: $15.00

Sunday Performances are Pay-What-You-Can

Three Play Season Pass: $75.00

For tickets – visit www.roadtheatre.org or call 818-761-8838

Photo above by Elizabeth Kimball: Kacie Rogers and Tiffany Wolff star in the Road Theatre Company’s Los Angeles premiere of BRIGHT HALF LIFE by Tanya Barfield, directed by Amy K. Harmon and now playing at the Road Theatre in North Hollywood.