Cal Rep explores Absurdist Theater in 'Panama'

By Lauren Nelson
On-line Forty-Niner

The California Repertory Company at Cal State Long Beach is bravely going where it has never gone before with a new wacky production.    "Panama," opening Friday at the Edison Theatre in Long Beach, is a dissection of American life that presents man's journey through the twists and turns of living forever.

"Panama" confronts the cowboy mentality of America with its fast and furious pace. Money, destruction, personal values, and the idea of living for death are all things that Man, the main character played by Craig Fleming, must deal with in the colorful hour-long production.

It's a skewed look at the world that will make some say, "Oh my god, that just totally changed my life," said director, Jim Anzid.

Anzid, who owns the Circle X Theater Company in Los Angeles is a first-time director with Cal Rep. Just as Anzid is stepping out of his boundaries, he is making Cal Rep do the same.  He took the play written by Mike Follie, along with eight talented Cal Rep actors, and created a production that is guaranteed to make move audiences emotionally.

The style of the play is known as "absurdist theater," a skewed vision or glance of theater that takes an unexpected angle.

"It's a different look at Absurdist plays," Anzid said.   "Specific scenes are satirized, making [absurdity] accessible. It closes some doors off for what people think theater is."

In the play, the characters realize the metaphorical value of the play's title.

"Everyday life is like being on this strip of land between two oceans," reads a line in the script. Anzid explained that "Panama," in a way, becomes a state of mind.

The eight actors play more than one character, and one of them even plays six different characters.

"The character called Man is from the "everyman" aspect, perhaps a little sexist in that approach," Anzid said. "The casting is cross-gendered, giving a funny view on gender, age, everything."

Many questions are posed in "Panama," and the answers to those hard questions are as diverse as the audience that will attend the production, Anzid said.
 

"It's a different look at Absurdist plays. Specific scenes are satirized, making [absurdity] accessible. It closes some doors off for what people think theater is."
-- Jim Anzid, director of Cal Rep's "Panama."