Review: ‘Play With a Knife’ at Stages Theatre

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A random stabbing in a greasy spoon has unexpected consequences for attacker and victim in ‘Play With a Knife,’ actor-playwright Zach Fehst’s impassioned if overreaching new existential one-act at Stages Theatre Center.

Like Edward Albee’s ‘The Zoo Story’ and Jean-Paul Sartre’s ‘No Exit,’ Fehst’s drama unfolds in a surreal mirrored version of the eatery where a disturbed nihilist, Evan (Fehst), has just murdered Michael (Dedalus Hyde), the divorced workaholic who accidentally bumped into him.

Michael understandably has some sharp words of disapproval for Evan as the pair find themselves transported to an empty limbo on the border between being and nothingness. Under Heather Demetrios’ brisk staging, they launch into a cerebral dialogue on motive, responsibility and the search for meaning.

Seething with stereotypical angry-young-man contempt, Fehst’s Evan blames Michael and his generation for the mess they’ve left, challenging him to ‘Show me that something matters.’

Other witnesses to the crime wander into this alternate reality to offer diverse perspectives: an old man (John C. McLaughlin) invokes appreciation for the beauty of experience, while a smug young couple (Laura Eichhorn, Sean Richter) keep topping each other’s carpe diem platitudes.

Hyde’s likable Michael offers the best rebuttal to Evan’s amoral relativism, but more by way of demonstrated decency than argument. For all the earnestness and dramatic sharp edges, ‘Play With a Knife’s’ derivative and rather predictable philosophical inquiries play more like a 2 a.m. dorm room debate.

-- Philip Brandes

‘Play With a Knife,’ Stages Theatre Center, 1540 N. McCadden Place, Hollywood. 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Ends May 31. $10 to $30 (pay what you can). (323) 636-9661. Running time: 1 hour, 10 minutes.

Caption: From left, Zach Fehst, Sean Richter and Laura Eichhorn in ‘Play With a Knife.’ Credit: Dedalus Hyde