Stage

LVLT’s ‘Closer’ could use some relationship counseling

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Las Vegas Little Theatre’s ‘Closer’ searches for a sincere heart but comes out inconsistent.
Photo: Richard Brusky
Jacob Coakley

The Details

Three stars
CLOSER
Through March 10; Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.; $10-$15.
Las Vegas Little Theatre, 362-7996.

The second production in six months of Patrick Marber’s Closer opened last weekend at Las Vegas Little Theatre (on the heels of Atlas Theatre’s version last fall), and despite some solid results, the on-again/off-again couplings of Dan, Larry, Anna and Alice still feels like it was written by a bitter tween who only knows about relationships from Skinemax and his parents’ divorce.

The biggest success of this production is watching Timothy Burris as Larry. He brings a brash, bullying energy to his role that delights to offend and itches for a fight. He’s at his best when he’s needling the other characters and pushing them around—literally or figuratively. His explosiveness undercuts his scenes of pain and desolation, but the moment when he registers just how he’s been manipulated by Alice (Stacia Zinkevich) is a gem.

For her part, Zinkevich plays a flirty waif well (although she is a titch too old for the role). Alice could be the most cold-hearted of characters—she certainly knows the score earlier than anyone else—but in Zinkevich’s hands she’s earnest, truly looking for a relationship and cunning enough to make it happen in the shark-infested waters of this play. Her final scene with Dan (Brian Proffit) is a great microcosm of her role: manipulative, yearning and merciless.

Jamie Carvelli Pikrone never quite brings Anna’s guilty passions to life, and her lack of an upper-class accent seems a big lapse, as it would help clarify relationships. Proffit is amiable as the feckless Dan but never really resolves him into a coherent character.

Under Mary Foresta’s direction this production searched for a sincere heart, but some off-key moments, especially in the closing scene, made me question Foresta’s overall vision. The play has its moments of small rewards, but they don’t add up.

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