Carmilla: The Table Reading That Wanted to be a Play

– Photo Courtesy of Actaeon Players

By Nathaniel Cayanan

Don’t let the headline fool you. Carmilla is not horrible. But, it’s not great either. First, let’s get the plot out of the way. Set in World War II Europe, Carmilla, adapted from the 1872 Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, follows the life of young Laura (played by Erin Elizabeth Reed), who lives a fairly mundane life. One day, a woman happens upon her home after a carriage accident and begs Laura’s father (Doug Haverty) to host her injured daughter, Carmilla, for a month. Both the same age, Carmilla and Laura develop a friendship that soon develops into a supernatural romance, while Carmilla’s deep, dark secret slowly comes to surface.

Now, the plot itself is quite compelling on paper; as it should be, since it’s from a story that has been used as inspiration to many modern works all over the world. But, here’s the thing about this production: it’s so painfully minimalist that the play overall fails to truly pique our interests. The stage space in Lyric-Hyperion Theatre and Cafe is not grand, nor flashy; it literally is just a modest sized room draped with black curtains. The only set piece used in the production is a radio which is hardly used at all. And sure, the actors wear era appropriate costumes, yet these efforts do little to bolster up this fairly underwhelming production.

But, again, this is not a horrible show. The actors are definitely serious, and most are quite talented.  And it’s quite admirable to think that, despite the full weight of the show being placed on their shoulders, the cast still enthusiastically delivers wholehearted performances. In fact, in some parts, we see how well cast Carmilla (Lauren Kathryn) and Laura are. Kathryn brings to the table a naturally seductive presence which contrasts Reed’s sincere innocence. Also interesting is Gary Shaw’s General Spieldorf, who dominates the stage with Shaw’s strong presence.

Unfortunately, however, his performance also highlights the unevenness of the acting when all is put together. Because we are at only arm’s distance away from the actors, we can pinpoint the different schools of acting, which at times compete for attention. For some in the cast, their performances are a little more measured, whereas with Shaw’s, though interesting, stands out as theatrical, eclipsing all others on the stage with him, again, not because they’re bad, but because their styles are so different.

In all, Carmilla is a play that needs help. Perhaps if this production were performed in a radio broadcast, and we were to visualize everything as we listened, the experience would’ve been much more pleasant. But, this time around, Carmilla is but a shadow of what it wants to be.

Carmilla will play until Nov. 8, 2015, at Lyric-Hyperion Theatre & Cafe, 2106 Hyperion Ave., Los Angeles CA 90027. Show days and times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.  Tickets are $15 and can be bought at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2282927.

– Photo Courtesy of Actaeon Players

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