Thursday, March 17, 2011  03:08 AM
by Michael Grossberg
The Columbus Dispatch

Elephant in the Room

How relationships develop – or end – amid secrets is explored in the fourth annual Flex Series of shorts.

Elephant in the Room, which Raconteur Theatre Company will open tonight at Club Diversity, offers a double bill of six plays, divided into two acts.

“Everyone has secrets, something that they’re not talking about,” said producer Jill Ceneskie, associate artistic director of the troupe.

“We think people are drawn to those types of stories because there’s something in everyone’s life that they feel they need to conceal. These stories examine the unknown, the power of fear and how secrets affect relationships.”

Ceneskie appears as Marge, opposite Adam Reid as Herbert, in Milk Cartons, a 10-minute play about a married couple who disagree about a decision made during a shopping trip.

“It’s an absurd comedy that explores genuine fears of inadequacy in families,” Ceneskie said.

Three people interact at a mental institution in No One Asks, a comedic drama.

“That may be the strangest piece of the evening because of the characters’ quirks and the unspoken problems in the relationships,” she said.

Sean Reid is directing Third Date, a 30-minute romantic comedy; and LA 8 AM, a portrait of a Los Angeles couple whose relationship is stuck in a rut.

” Third Date is a heart-touching comedy about Bradley (Rudy Frias) preparing for his third date with a girl (Lorelei Moore) he really likes – but his father stops by first,” Reid said.

The twist: His father (Tom Shafer) died six years earlier.

“The ghostly visitation,” the director said, “helps the son let go of some baggage he’s carrying.”

LA 8 AM, meanwhile, is described as a modern Greek tragedy.

“The couple can’t find a way out of their stagnant relationship,” Reid said.

Frias and Ceneskie portray the pair in the seven-minute work, with Lorelei Moore and Tahrea Maynard as a Greek chorus.

“I was especially drawn to this play,” Ceneskie said, “because it’s so real and touching.

“I’ve been married for nine years, and there certainly have been similar moments when the monotony of the everyday grind came between us.”

Sean Reid is seen as a guard named Samuel in Don’t Push the Red Button, a two-character existential comedy.

“The guard has no idea what the button does, but he was given the job to make sure people don’t push it,” Reid said. “There’s an empowerment and entitlement when you have a sense of purpose but also self-doubt when that purpose is called into question.”

Frias plays Albert in the 10-minute, two-character piece, which demonstrates how people are distinguished by their social roles.

“It’s a balancing act,” Reid said. “Samuel defines himself by what he’s been told to do. Albert defines himself by his choice to push the red button.”

He, She, They, a drama about two friends who meet once a year, was written by central Ohio playwright Heather Fidler.

“It’s a twist on the story about the one that got away,” said Fidler, 39.

“Unfortunately, it’s based on someone who actually did get away in my life.”

She wrote the 10-minute, two-character short as a memorial to a 15-year friendship she had since childhood with a young man.

“It was a romantic relationship that never quite took off,” she said. “Just about all of the play is fictionalized, with conversations I wish my friend and I had had.

“Writing can be wonderful therapy. In playwriting, you get to write your own ending.”

Raconteur Theatre will focus on mostly new or newer works during its third season.

Vengeful paparazzi, the Spartan beauty Helen and the mind of a madman will be some of the subjects explored under the leadership of Artistic Director Jill Ceneskie.

The 2011 season will begin in March with Elephant in the Room, the troupe’s annual Flex Series collection of shorts. The showcase is designed so that theatergoers can choose to see one act or all six works by local and national playwrights.

The semiprofessional troupe will present the area premiere of Helen of Sparta, Jacob M. Appel’s tragicomic retelling of the Trojan War from Helen’s point of view. Appel also wrote Arborophilia, a comedy that was a hit last year for the company.

Also planned is the area premiere of the Elizabeth Leavitt comedy Whales, Save Us! about paparazzi, celebrities, Girl Scouts and a guru; and a rare Columbus revival of Woyzeck, an 1836 Georg Buchner drama about the dehumanizing effect of the military and doctors on a young man.

The fall Woyzeck revival, Ceneskie said, will pave the way for an October 2012 production of Reservoir, an updated Eric Henry Saunders version of the tale, about an Iraq war soldier suffering post-traumatic stress syndrome.
mgrossberg {at} dispatch(.)com