Inspired By True Events

Tulis McCall
July 21, 2024
New York Theater, Off Broadway, Out of the Box Theatrics, Tulis McCall

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NEW YORK – Inspired By True Events

In the first five or so minutes of “Inspired By True Events” by Ryan Spahn, we watch as Mary (Dana Scurlock), the stage manager for this woe-begotten theatre company in Rochester, completes the thankless job of cleaning up after the actors. She covers all the minuscule bases. Emptying out the coffee filter of cold grounds. Dumping the old coffee in a nearby slop sink. Rinsing the coffee pot. Filling it with water. Emptying the new water into the well of the coffee maker. Filling the fresh filter with new coffee grounds. Placing said filter into the coffee maker. Turning the coffee maker on. In addition, she tosses the food containers, takes out the trash, and places a new bag in the trash can.

In some ways, this is the most fascinating part of the play. The task at hand is clear, and the actor performs her duty very well. Trash and old coffee are the obstacles, and she dispenses with everything before she lets herself enjoy a cup of Joe,

Let me say right off the bat that these actors are doing the best they can. However, the text they have to work with, combined with an absence of directorial guidance, sends them off the rails, where they remain moored in a swamp of, well, I don’t know what.

The one bit of life in the play is Mallory Portnoy as Eileen, who is self-referential in the extreme. The play they are performing has just opened to the best reviews ever (we never find out what the play is about even though we see bits of it on the in-house monitor), and tonight’s performance is sold out. This could mean an extended run that would show those other theatre people who are who in Rochester. Fresh from a biking accident (it was the car driver’s fault for not seeing her, of course), Eileen arrives at the theatre hyped up on adrenaline and ready to take on anyone who gets in her way. She doles out empathy and sympathy when it is convenient and/or important for her. And she is sparing with the doses. Here, Spahn’s writing gives Eileen enough layers and nuances that Portnoy can create a whole person with some nice comedic touches. Eileen is the embodiment of the actor we all want to avoid – especially if we are sharing a dressing room with them.

Funny thing about that – the program notes tell us that all 35 people crammed together in the tiny audience space are sitting in the actual Green Room (actors’ reception area) of the Out of The Box Theatre. Even the characters call it a Green Room. What is odd about that is that the tiny cast puts on makeup and changes into costumes in this little space that – and that makes it a dressing room. Hmmmm.

There are other inconsistencies – why does Mary mention she is going to a wedding but never leaves? What was the crash in the “Other” dressing room? Were there mice in the vent? Will Robert (Lou Libertore) ever stop steaming his shirt? And why can we barely understand Colin (Jack DiFalco) in the final, very important scene of this play?

The lack of depth in Spahn’s writing overall leaves gaping holes in this story. However, even those that could be addressed were Knud Adams’s forthcoming direction in creating characters with needs and challenges. As it was, all the tiny audience of 35 could do was watch the actors pass the time while we counted the minutes until this production wound down and coasted into the station where we would be allowed to disembark. As we exited the theatre, even the blistering heat felt refreshing.