Luther at Steep Theatre Company
★★☆☆☆
Steep Theatre Company. By Ethan
Lipton. Dir. Joanie Schultz. With
Michael Salinas, Kendra Thulin,
Peter Moore. 1hr 30mins;
no intermission.
In an ill-defined alternate universe, military veterans are taken in as rehabilitation projects—or really, Ethan Lipton’s metaphor suggests, as pets—by middle-class families. The opening scene of Lipton’s 2012 piece establishes that aspirational urbanites Marjorie (Kendra Thulin) and Walter (Peter Moore) have given shelter to Luther (Michael Salinas), who sleeps fitfully on their couch as the couple discuss whether they should bring him to Walter’s company party. It’s only when Luther wakes that we see he’s an adult yet strangely infantilized man sporting dog tags and the scars of war.
Bringing Luther into the corporate
world of social climbing and ass-kissing
turns out to be too much for the man
who served a six-year tour of duty in a
war zone; he can no longer negotiate the
tiresome mores of civilian life. Director
Joanie Schultz’s cast commits
admirably to Lipton’s odd world, which
also includes a number of characters
portrayed for no discernible reason as
puppets (though the puppets’ design by
Chelsea Warren and operation by
performer Missi Davis are impressive).
Still, Lipton’s attempted ironic treatment
of our country’s view of veterans ends up
feeling just as dehumanizing as the
reality, if not more.
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