By HEATHER RICH Special to the Daily Press
Board up the windows and lock the doors. The plague is back and has hit downtown Santa Monica. I am not talking about the homeless problem.
“One Flea Spare,” written by Naomi Wallace and performed by the Sight Unseen Theatre Group, finds us in plague-ridden London in the 16th Century. A tense, unhappy, aristocratic married couple are within days of freedom from being quarantined in their home when two refugees sneak into their home, forcing them to all be quarantined another 28 days together.
This is not a happy play. You can feel the horror of the time and almost smell the disease of our characters, physical and emotional. There are moments of real laughter, though they are few and far between. The script centers around the four principal characters stuck in their home, with occasional comic relief from a “guard” who makes sure nobody leaves the house but any precious items worth a shilling are swiftly removed.
The performances are dramatic, haunting, interesting, frustrating and entirely compelling. The accents are spot on — the actors all provide convincing, strong performances with depth and conviction. Other than some mumbled dialogue, it was hard to find anything lacking. This is real drama performed by dedicated actors. It was an impressive performance and script.
“One Flea Spare” is playing at the Other Space at the Santa Monica Playhouse located at 1211 4th St. in downtown Santa Monica. Tickets are $15 with $12 rates for students and seniors. The show begins at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and closes May 8.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 30, 2004. Read the original PDF.