[NEohioPAL] REVIEW: "The Agency" premieres in Canton

[Tom Wachunas]

Realed In
By Tom Wachunas
 
     By the
end of the first act of The Agency, the new play by Sherry Yanow and Deborah Fezelle currently showing at the
Kathleen Howland Theatre (for a much too-short run of four shows), I thought had
resolved  a few important  questions (or mysteries, or ‘issues’) central
to the plot. Oddly enough, this discovery, though perhaps making me feel a wee
bit proud of myself, had the greater effect of making me suspect that the
writing, or the directing by Fazelle, was somehow flawed in telegraphing such
revelatory information too early in the proceedings.
     Seriously, I’m really not all that smart. I’m fairly certain that many
viewers could pick up on the same cues. Still, I remember thinking (in
retrospect, maybe over-thinking)… now what? How can the rest of the story be
anything but a drawing out of the inevitable? I couldn’t have been more wrong.  And so it is that as Act II unfolded, the
earlier reeling-in picked up truly startling momentum until I was ‘got’ -  hook, line, and…thinker.  
    This psychological
thriller is an intriguing collision of two narratives. One tells of ‘The
Agency,’ a clandestine, non-governmental entity headed by Judge Gabe, looking
to hire an assassin, Micah Gideon, to carry out its plan to track and eliminate
a human target. The other is the story of Dr. Truman Warrik, who desperately
seeks the help of his therapist, Dr. Stacy Lyons, in coming to terms with his
terrifying, life-disrupting nightmares. And throughout the evening, just when
you think you’ve got this thing figured out, like peeling an onion, another
stinging layer of truth is exposed, made all the more pungent by the
performances of the remarkable cast. 
    Rufus Malone, Jr.,
in his portrayal of the ostensibly generous, loving emergency room Dr. Truman
Warrick who is undergoing hypnotherapy, is himself hypnotic to watch in his
urgent, transformative struggle to reconcile lost childhood memories with the
reality of his haunted  present. An
equally riveting transformation unfolds in Kevin Wells’ jarring portrait of
Micah, the would-be hired killer who abandoned his wife to pursue his obsession
with all things murderous. Wells brings a dark, pathologically chilling
presence to the stage, fueled by his character’s hatred for the target. But his
is a psychosis that morphs into something utterly unexpected.
    Meanwhile, in his
role of Judge Gabe, W. Bradley Vincent provides a convincing picture of the
stern and cold Agency boss deciding whether or not to ultimately hire the
uncomfortably cocky and volatile Micah. He enlists the services of Angelique to
help assess Micah’s suitability and stability. In that role, the fiery Ariel
Roberts is all business and protocol as she angrily butts heads with the
arrogant assassin. But she, too, has secrets that will surface, as does
therapist Dr. Stacy Lyons. To that role, Marilyn Wells brings real sincerity
and warmth, displaying just the right degree of clinical dignity. But she’s
also intensely fascinating if not unsettling  as she detachedly refers to herself in the
third person, speaking into her recording device of the pressing need to heal
the deep wounds of her own dark past. Physician, heal thyself? 
    Rounding out the
cast are Cynthia Gribble as Stephanie Warrick (Truman’s wife), and Andrew Bors
as Detective Otto Polaski, who advises the Agency on Micah’s past involvement
with police investigations. (Bors also composed the evening’s appropriately
eerie and otherwise gripping incidental music.) Their performances, while short,
nonetheless bring important background to understanding the big picture here,
and are very credibly delivered.   
    So OK, back to
those aforementioned crucial revelations from Act I. What are they and how do
they inform and drive the rest of the ever-deepening (and in the end,
unpredictable) story? If I told you I’d have to… I’d better think about this,
huh?  
 
    The Agency, written by Sherry Yanow and
Deborah Fezelle, directed by Deborah Fezelle, at the Kathleen Howland Theatre,
located in the lower level of Second April Galerie, 324 Cleveland Ave. NW,
downtown Canton. Shows are Friday, July 27 and Saturday July 28 at 8 p.m., and
Sunday July 29 at 3 p.m. Tickets $10. Call for reservations at (330) 451 – 0924.   http://www.secondapril.org/theagency
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