Theater review: ‘boom’ at the Carrie Hamilton Theatre

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Apocalypse comes with a personals-ad twist in ‘boom.’ Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s dark satire about sex, fish and the end of the world gets a valiant Los Angeles premiere by Furious Theatre Company.

There’s an ominously quirky aura to designer Kurt Boetcher’s underground lab set, its perky central aquarium abutted by a control booth-concierge desk. Here, narrator Barbara (Julia Duffy) settles in to offer timpany punctuation and ambiguous reactions to the odd pairing that ensues.

Marine biology grad student Jules (Nick Cernoch) is using his research digs to host journalist Jo (Megan Goodchild) for no-strings-attached high jinks. With Jules’ revelation that he’s gay, things start to unravel, and aggressive Jo is woefully unprepared for the imminent global catastrophe that Jules has planned their assignation around. At this point, Barbara freezes the action and interposes her viewpoint, coaxing ‘boom’ from its initial Woody Allen-meets-Rod Serling contours into post-Pirandello allegory.

Director Dámaso Rodriguez maintains a cracked balance between Jules and Jo’s ostensible reality and Barbara’s role in the proceedings. Kudos to designers Christie Wright (lighting), Doug Newell (sound) and Leah Piehl (costumes) for their smartly jagged contributions.

Cernoch and Goodchild ride well-contrasted comic techniques to the same unsettling ends, while Duffy is priceless, every gesture and elliptical pause registering at least nine nuances.

However, they cannot quite make Nachtrieb’s intelligent, funny yet sketch-weighted script match the stakes that eventually evolve. Despite its craft and topical heft, ‘boom’ is at base premise-bound, though Furious devotees and ichthyologists can judge its merits for themselves.

– David C. Nichols

‘boom,’ Carrie Hamilton Theatre at the Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. Sundays. Ends June 20. $32. (626) 792-7116 or www.furioustheatre.org. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.