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# Actors Group Theatre provides a ‘Refuge’
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/actors-group-theatre-provides-a-refuge/
- Published: 2008-07-18T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T20:12:30.000Z
- Author: Cynthia Citron
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

IN THIS TOWN OF A THOUSAND theaters, where every second person is involved in the creation and presentation of make-believe, it is an ongoing marvel to me to see the myriad spaces they use to pursue their art. In North Hollywood, on a street full of shops, a long narrow storefront filled with a motley assortment of overstuffed chairs and a bar that also serves as the box office marks the “waiting room” for The Actors Group Theatre. But where is the theater? The small door at the far end of the room leads only to the outside again.

Through that door, and around a curving pathway, is a tent-like structure made of sheets of black cloth, and tucked inside is a cozy little space which holds four or five rows of comfortable movie-style seats and a minuscule stage comfortably fitted out as an Irish tavern on the rocky coast of Maine, courtesy of set designer Alexander Williams.

The play is a revised version of a play written seven years ago by Bill Murphy called “Refuge from the Storm.” Martha and Bert (Barabara Keegan and Austin Grehan) are the sweetly bickering couple that run the tavern, but they leave at midnight to wend their way home through the raging storm.

Shortly afterwards, another couple stumbles into the tavern (Bert has forgotten to lock the door), but their bickering is not so sweet.

They are the Dexters, Doris and Tom (Gretchen Koerner and Michael Harrity), and their marriage, as well as their small boat, is on the rocks.

And despite the fact that they might have perished when their boat sank, they continue what appears to be a never-ending quarrel. If you must take sides, he seems the more reasonable, despite his infidelity; she is just a bitter shrew, taking everything he says and turning it against him.

Their argument is interrupted, however, by a series of characters who wander in, one at a time or by twos, seeking refuge from the storm.

Eventually, there are six more refugees, in addition to the Dexters, and as they drink their way through the night, they each tell their story. Jim and Candy (David Love and Chase McKenna) come in together: he is a businessman and she is a hooker.

Jim is racked with guilt because he is not with his wife on this night as she gives birth to their second child. Candy has no guilt; she takes great pride in her work. Mike (Dane Bowman), the captain of a small cargo ship, is courting the barmaid Eileen (Kasandra Woodley- Connolly), who lives upstairs.

Also living upstairs is a fire-and-brimstone priest, Father Gray (Steve Gunning), who keeps reminding everyone that they are going to hell.

And finally, there is Todd (Seth Caskey), who is carrying around the ashes of his father, who, he notes proudly, was a “career criminal.”

The actors, directed by playwright Bill Murphy, handle their stories well. They are an engaging bunch and they hold the interest of the audience.

But in the end, the playwright lets the audience down. His contrived ending, meant to be filled with wonder and suspense, is, instead, one of those “And then I woke up,” kinds of artifices: a gimmick that doesn’t surprise and does-n’t quite suffice.

“Refuge from the Storm” will continue Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 8 p.m. through August 10 at Actors Group Theatre, 4378 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. Call (323) 960-7719 for reservations.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 18, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/071808.pdf?ref=smdp.com)