Things Out of Sync in This ‘Simpatico’

Sam Shepard once said that when he gets writer’s block, he imagines what he would do next if he were acting in the play, even if it’s coming onstage naked in a bearskin.

His method sticks out like a sore thumb in most of his plays. It’s obvious in his dark comedy “Simpatico,” in its Los Angeles-Orange County premiere at Rude Guerrilla’s Empire Theater in Santa Ana. Illogic follows illogic throughout his meandering tale of two Cucamonga hotshots who are collapsing under their personal pressures after conniving to ruin the Commissioner of Racing in California.

Carter seems to be all right in the beginning, but Vinnie is lost in bourbon and a stereotypical Shepard filthy undershirt. It seems Carter is hiding Vinnie to protect Vinnie from himself, and hiding Simms, the commissioner, under an assumed name in Kentucky.

Enter loony Shepard sex-pot Cecilia, Vinnie’s pick-up, who also charms Carter, and completely floors Simms when she goes to Kentucky to buy back the pictures Vinnie took of Simms and Vinnie’s ex-wife in the throes of animalistic amour.

If this sounds confusing, Shepard makes no effort to clear up things. By the time Vinnie gets back to Cucamonga, Carter is shaking all over Vinnie’s bed in pain from too much of Vinnie’s bourbon, and thirsty Vinnie has to go out to get another bottle. Now Cecilia returns from Kentucky and seems to wonder what it’s all about. So does the audience.

Rita Rene’s direction hasn’t done much to solve the puzzle. In her staging, she shows little appreciation of how to make it work.

David Beatty’s Vinnie shines brightly, with some interesting subtext and a laid-back sense of honesty that works well with what Shepard has provided him. As Carter, in the beginning a control freak who later loses control over himself, Andrew Nienaber plays along the surface and lets his self-indulgence match Shepard’s.

Forrest Robinson plays Simms on one note, leering, rarely looking at the other actors, with a broad Southern accent that misses the effect he should make, and a simplistic approach without any subtext whatsoever. Ashley Alexandra Bretz is the slightly loony Cecilia, and plays her so overboard and kittenish she’s a joke instead of a character.

Alyson Cook is the nanny for the progeny of Rosie, Vinnie’s ex-wife, who eloped with Carter, and gives a straight-forward, honest reading of the small part. Rosie is played with delicious bitterness by Pamela Nicholson.

*

David Beatty: Vinnie

Ashley Alexandra Bretz: Cecilia

Alyson Cook: Kelly

Pamela Nicholson: Rosie

Andrew Nienaber: Carter

Forrest Robinson: Simms

A Rude Guerrilla production of Sam Shepard’s play. Produced by Don Hess, Michelle Fontenot and Dave Barton. Directed by Rita Rene. Scenic design: David Beatty, Rita Rene. Lighting design: Renee Gallo, Andrew Nienaber. Sound design: Rita Rene. Stage managers: Patricia Ferguson, Andrew Nienaber.