Review: ‘Survived’ at Powerhouse Theatre

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“Survived” at the Powerhouse Theatre is not so much a play as it is an immersion. Playwright and director Tom Burmester and his associates at the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble are expressly intent upon refocusing attention on the Iraq war at a time when the all-consuming global economic crisis rules the media. And they clearly intend the result to be as urgent and immediate as a telegram from the war department.

The play, co-directed by Danika Sudik, is the second offering in the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble’s “War Cycle,” which began with “Wounded,” based on Burmester’s interviews with American soldiers who had been injured in the line of duty. “Survived” highlights the plight of those who have lost their loved ones in the war.

Burmester has once again based his play on personal interviews, but he also credits his fellow company members with the development of the piece. Whatever the genesis, that essential splinter of ice that must remain dead center of any potentially melodramatic vehicle eventually dissolves into bathos.

The taut and nicely rendered first act introduces us to the Harper family some months after their Marine son, Michael, has been killed in the line of duty. There’s deceptively chipper dad Sam (James W. Sudik), adamantine mom Lilith (Dee Amerio Sudik), little sis Dina (Jen Bailey) and brother Ariel (Trevor Algatt, alternating with Michael Pappas), all of them desperate to maintain the simulacrum of an uninterrupted life. Longing to escape the family’s cloying expectations, Michael’s young widow Sophia (Melissa Collins) seeks distraction with a new lover (Albert Meijer), but the revelation of her “infidelity” sends her in-laws into turmoil. But the most shattering revelation comes from Sgt. Taylor (Jonathan Redding), the mysterious comrade of the deceased, who is on a mission of personal expiation.

Among the heartfelt but uneven cast, the wonderful Redding is most memorable as the haunted Sgt. Taylor. Cassandra on the beach, he personifies the human cost of war. Sadly, the dialogue often descends into jargon and the prevalent anguish is so effulgent that it loses its impact. That’s a shame, because although the production is guilty of exaggeration, the core message of ‘Survived’ cannot be overemphasized.

-- F. Kathleen Foley

“Survived,” Powerhouse Theatre, 3116 2nd St., Santa Monica. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. Ends April 25. $25. (800) 595-4849. Running time: 2 hours.

Caption: Spencer Kramber and Mike Kindle in ‘Survived.’ Credit: Melissa Snyder