Power Corrupts in Chilling ‘Director’

What price creativity? Interpretive artists, particularly actors, are often called upon to surrender their personal will to a domineering authority figure--the director. It’s a psychic surrender, a poignant act of trust designed to break down the boundaries of individual ego and pave the way to true collaboration.

But what happens when the authority figure abuses the trust? When the guru in question has a screw loose?

Nancy Hasty’s provocative play “The Director,” at the Actors Lab, examines just how twisted the dynamic can become when an individual abrogates his or her common sense in the pursuit of a higher consciousness. Talented playwright Annie (Tasha Lawrence) should know better, but a traumatic past has made her vulnerable to the wiles of Peter (Tim Monsion), a once-famous Grotowski-styled theatrical director now working as a janitor.

Annie persuades Peter to direct her new play, and the two assemble a cast of young actors willing to embrace Peter’s radical and psychologically assaultive “methods.” But as Annie’s emotional dependence on Peter increases, the floodgates of Peter’s intrinsic creepiness open ever wider, and Peter’s eager acolytes, especially Annie, are swept away in uncharted waters.

Hasty lapses into some predictable plot developments late in the play, but director Evan Bergman’s stylish staging will engender chills of horrified recognition among many in the audience. The talented ensemble includes Todd Simmons, Marja Adrience and Shula Van Buren, who play jaded young New York actors unhinged by the promise of greatness, and Warren Press, as a nebbishy reject with a hidden agenda.

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* “The Director,” Actors Lab, 1514 N. Gardner St., West Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends April 25. $10. (323) 878-0255. Running time: 2 hours.