Infinite Black Suitcase Review

Mateen Bizar (L) and Ludmila Abril (R) in "Infinite Black Suitcase", a play dealing with families struggling to find ways to cope with death and the dying. "Infinite Black Suitecase" opens on Friday, October 25th, 2019, at SMC Studio Stage in Santa Monica, California. (Rachel O'Brien/Corsair)

Santa Monica College's (SMC) Theatre Arts department presented E.M. Lewis's play "Infinite Black Suitcase" in the Studio Stage in the Theatre Arts complex. Directed by Carl Anderson, the performances took place on Oct. 25 - 27, 31 and Nov. 1-3. 

Set in a small town in rural Oregon, the story is comprised of 14 vignettes centered on the subject of death. Rather than dwelling on the existential aspects of death, the play explores the practical questions surrounding death: which husband — the biological parent or the current, financially secure step-parent — should get the kids? How log after the death of a loved one should someone wait before starting to date again? How does a husband who wants to be buried beside his first wife make his current wife feel?

Characters overlap in the vignettes, so that the ripple effects of dying and death are explored. The family tensions that arise around death are examined, and the resolution of those tensions are generally well done.

The layout of the stage, however, proved troublesome. Performances took place in the Studio Stage, which houses a plain, unelevated floor with seats surrounding it on the front and sides. An outdoor bench set in one of the far corners offered little visibility from some positions and it was difficult to hear most of the dialogue. It happened that the most static and wordy vignette was staged there, between an older gentleman and his younger, second wife, and to say the scene dragged would be an understatement. It's likely that the hospital bed posed similar problems for the audience who sat on the other side of the stage.

The performances were generally excellent, with the two brothers, Stan and Kal, who open the first scene being particularly effective. They were played by Nour Saleh and Mehmet Bakir respectively. Doroteja Jurican in an ingénue role as an assistant manager at the local cemetery brightened the stage with her prescience. Nigel Charbonneau looked very comfortable in his role as Frank, and his interplay with Matthew Goodrich, playing Father Sebastian, was funny and touching at times. 

In spite of some issues concerning stage design, the production proved to be a success.