Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
The Wilds: Seasons 2 – Amazon Originals

Season 2 of The Wilds opens with what Leah learned at the end of Season 1 where there was a second group stranded and trying to survive on another island just as they were, except it was a group of boys. Season 1 revealed the key individuals behind the experiment, as well as that it was a staged plane crash and that none of their parents were aware and thinking they had all gone off to some high end resort for spa days and paddleboard adventures.

Season 2 focuses on the boys’ experiences while also taking viewers into deeper stories of the girls and how they were ultimately rescued. The dynamics as far as the characters in the groups were very similar and at the opening of Season 2, both groups had been rescued and were in a facility where they were being intereviewed about the situations that happened during their island survival experiement and told their parents would be arriving to get them.

The idea was that no one was to learn it was an intentional experient and that each group had two covert insiders to somewhat guide the groups and report information back to the research headquarters when necessary. The islands were rigged with hidden cameras and mics everywhere, known only to the insiders, who always seemed to have helpful ideas or find random stuff to aid in their survival. Leah was the only one who suspected Nora of being involved in something ultimately controlling their situation. The problem there was that every time Leah found some proof, it disappeared before she could share it with anyone else, which made her appear to others and herself to be becoming unhinged.

On the boys’ island, they also lost one member right from the start as well as having to defend themselves against a dangerous predator that the research team actually had no idea was on the island. The boys teamed up in a coordinated attack and were able to catch and kill the predator. Though seeming to be carrying on well, an incident unknown to the group once revealed altered their dynamics permanently, thus causing them to fail the experiement.

A brush with death rattled all the girls as each of them engaged in their individual struggles to find peace and the truth. Martha had a psychotic break and stop moving or eating for over a week, even causing bed sores on her legs. Rachel stuggled with losing her hand and her sister Nora in a shark attack, while Fatin made a unsettling discovery in Nora’s journal pointing to the fact that Leah may have been right all along and in the truth all alone.

The researchers brought both teams back to the facility at the same time. The girls surviving 50 days was considered a success, while the boys only lasting 34 days was considered a failure, and research coverts who presented themselves as law enforcement there on their behalf interviewed them one at a time to try and discover what happened to them all out there in the wild. Unfortunately and unknown to any of them, none of them would be seeing their parents anytime soon.

Seasons 2: 8 episodes – 60 min

by Shirley Lorraine

Ojai Actors Explore Inner Space

Have you ever had an out-of-body experience in which you know you are somewhere important, but cannot seem to pin down where? I had one such experience just recently when I went to see All in the Timing by David Ives at the Ojai Art Center Theater.

This unusual offering was presented in five one-act plays that challenge the brain. As I understand it, the author has written a plethora of one-acts and various productions choose which to present.

Director Steve Grumette’s previous experiences with Ives’ works led him to pitching his enthusiasm to the theater wing of the Art Center. Each of the five pieces is a mind-bending adventure into vocabulary, possibilities, and aspects of the central theme of “what if.”

What if, for instance, a conversation could be instantly re-written if the current one just is not working? Using an age-old improv technique of “new line,” a bell rings and the actors try again with a different response or a new expression or a new action. In the second act titled “Sure Thing” a couple meet in a restaurant and keep changing verbalizations until ultimately a suitable stopping point is reached. Some conversations play out like that. Some stop attempting to make sense of it all and don’t get that far.

The author certainly does have a way with words, flinging them about with abandon. At times, I found it to be more than my Friday night brain could absorb. In the act Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread, the four actors begin with a single line each. As the action progresses, they are reduced to a single word, trading the words as they move about. Singing and dancing to the rhythm of the syllables, the words become soup. The act was written to parody the minimalist style of prolific composer Philip Glass.

The ensemble includes Grummette himself, Anna Kotula, Daniel Ruark, Larry Swartz and Sherry Owen. What a challenging actor’s exercise the collection of one-acts presented. The actors, however, were up to the task, freeing themselves from verbal restrictions, encouraging the audience to allow the depth of the concepts to whirl around in inner space. Whether a person ultimately funnels the whirling thoughts to a reasonable ending seems to be up to the individual.

The wide range of theatrical offerings this season surely has something for everyone’s tastes.

The OACT’s season continues with the ever popular ‘The Music Man” opening June 24. What a perfect staging for the summer. This will be one to bring the entire family to enjoy. The evening performances begin at 7:30 through the summer and downtown Ojai thrives on the weekends, so parking can be challenging. Put on your walking shoes and enjoy the beauty of Ojai.

The Ojai Art Center is located at 113 S. Montgomery Street. www.ojaiact.org (805) 640-8797

A View from House Seats
By Shirley Lorraine

The Elite Theatre in Oxnard has tackled some sensitive subjects in the past. On stage now is perhaps the most touchy of all – suicide and depression. Not a topic easily offered, nor one to be taken lightly. In the Tony-award and Pulitzer-prize winning drama, ‘night, Mother, the Elite stages a powerful work that is heart-rending, introspective and served with just enough moments of humor to keep the audience absorbed.

Directed by Brian Robert Harris, the two-person cast delivers with force. Thelma Cates (Kimberly Demmary) is a middle-class, middle-aged widow who has settled into a functional existence purposly devoid of excitement and change. Her daughter Jessie (Emily Asher Kellis) now lives with her mother following upsets in her own life. She suffers from severe depression and now has decided that enough is enough. She plans to kill herself tonight. The act is no longer debatable.

What follows is n uninterrupted exchange between mother and daughter in which understanding is attempted without much success. Jessie does her best to prepare her mother for her absence, while mother is actively denying acceptance of the situation.

Depression is an incidious malady. It can creep up on you, build slowly or attack maliciously. For Jessie, the build-up has been constant, with years and layers of missteps, misunderstandings and misinformation. The burden is now too great to endure. Still, she feels it is critical that her mother gain a glimmer of understanding and takes great pains to prepare her for the inevitable.

Demmary gives a solid, masterful performance of a woman filled with pain, denial and hope. While the character does have a grasp of her daughter’s despair, she also cannot imagine life without her and simply refuses to do so. She herself is no picture of mental health and fights to maintain what little equilibrium she has.

Emily Asher Kellis is an enigma in the role of the emotionally tortured daughter. She is at times bouncy, smiling and patient, and at other times angry, discouraged and pragmatic. She obsessively makes lists, rearranges items in the cupboard, and futilely attempts to give her mother one last touching gift that is repeatedly rejected– a manicure. She loves her mother and knows her action will cause great pain. At the same time, her mind is simply ready to blow. She is on overload.

While it is true that in most cases, those who intend to commit suicide do so without fanfare and lengthy discussion, the play’s content analyzes the thought processes in both mother and daughter, giving the audience insights into how the situation came to this point. Even though the end is announced early on, when it does take place, the reality still hits like a hammer.
A Pultizer play powerfully portrayed.

‘night, Mother continues through May 22. Performances are Friday and Satursday at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. Ont Thursday performance closing weekend. Covid cautions still in place. (805) 483-5118, www.theElite.org

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Undone (Seasons 1 & 2) – Amazon Originals

In Undone, Alma Winograd (Rosa Salazar) was bored with the repeating patterns of her everyday life as a preschool teacher in a comfortable relationship with her boyfriend who was obviously more committed to a future life together. Her sister Becca (Angelique Cabral) was soon to be married, and while hanging out at a bar they had a fight and Alma left crying. Strangely, as she was driving home she saw her father Jacob (Bob Odenkirk), who had passed away, standing on the corner which caused a serious car accident that had her in a coma for two weeks.

Alma woke and saw her dad Jacob in the room, though no one else could see him. Jacob told Alma he caused the accident to trigger her special abilities and help solve issues around his death. Jacob was persistent, and Alma eventually became aware through her father’s help that she had the ability to time travel. Her new found abilities became disruptive to her everyday life, finding herself frequently popping back and forth in time. Alma, like her grandmother, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia but Jacob believed many like this mom and daughter actually had special gifts to bend the rules of space and time.

At the end of Season 1, Alma travels back to the night her father died to try to change the past only to discover her father’s actions were intentional and that her mother was at her father’s lab that night though she had always denied it. Unfortunately in real time, Alma ran into a mirror on the wall at the preschool she worked at in front of all the children and was kindly let go from her job. This compelled Alma to go to Mexico to connect with her dad, but her boyfriend Sam called her mom Camila thinking her actions were due to her not taking her schizophrenia meds.

Becca went to Mexico to find Alma, sharing she had told Reed on their honeymoon about her indiscretion and that his family was moving to annul the marriage. Alma was convinced her dad would emerge from the cave and that Becca would be fine because their timeline would be adjusted. They stayed all night and as the sun rose in Season 2, Alma went into the cave after Becca went back to the car hoping that she had changed time and would find her father.

When Alma emerged from the cave, Becca was gone and when calling her learned she was on her honeymoon with Reed in Bora Bora and that her father was alive. Alma could also now play the piano and speak Spanish in her new timeline, but there was no Sam or preschool from the past. Jacob said his abilities were more limited now that he was in a physical body again, and shared that his wife had concerns about him being schizophrenic so he had to stop his previous research though help counsel Alma with her time travel abilities.

Season 2 also reveals that Becca has special abilities as well allowing her to move through time into memories, and also discovered she could bring others with her. Her grandmother Geraldine (Holley Fain), who was in a mental care facility, also had similar abilities and they seemed to be inherited genetically. Alma and Becca realized that they could repair issues that they found in the past and teamed up to find family secrets that had damaging results in their futures.

Undone uses rotoscoping animation where animators trace over real images of actors, which creates a show that looks like a hybrid of animation and live action that feels both realistic and contrived. The animators did line drawings of each of the characters frame by frame, then the footage went to their studio in Amsterdam and those performances were hand-painted onto oil-painting backgrounds. Each episode contains 150-200 oil paintings that provide backdrops.

Seasons 1&2: 8 episodes – 25min

by Shirley Lorraine

SPTC Stages Work in Progress

Santa Paula Theatre Center’s season is off to a firm start. Now being presented on the backstage is Friendly Valley, a new work by David Lewis Newman. Using the backstage is an effective way to utilize time and talent between mainstage productions.

This offering is a work in progress that needed stage time to gauge effectiveness and refine the writing. While there is still work to be done, in my opinion, the work has a solid beginning.

The setting is a retirement home where an elderly couple live. Married for 53 years, the Simonson’s are now facing the impending demise of Mrs. Simonson. Father, Jack (Bink Goncharoff), has called their three sons to the bedside to say goodbye.

Each son carries a shoulder chip the size of a boulder over unresolved issues from their past. As a result, they are stiff and unwelcoming to each other. Each resents the others for perceived wrongs and flaws. These result in dramas overshadowing the real reason they are together – to say goodbye to their mother.

This situation embodies elements with which many in my age group are, sadly, all too familiar. The difficulty of dealing with impending death, managing the grief, the regrets and the unfulfilled possibilities all come at a time when what is really needed is support, understanding and patience.

The youngest of the sons, Andy (John Webber), while carrying the persona of the loose-lived guy, actually (again, in my opinion) came across as the most “together” character in the play. His motto, “It is what it is” carries with it the ability to be flexible and roll with the punches of the moment.

The middle son, Mark (Scott Blanchard), is an unforgiving, unlikeable person who just won’t let go of old issues. His “reflective moment” with dimmed lighting seemed out of place and did not help redeem his character.

The oldest is Ronnie (Michael Perlmutter), whose past haunts him. Unbeknownst to his estranged brothers, he has been living a quiet married life and getting over his mistakes.

Leticia Mattson delightfully portrays Ronnie’s cheerful, patient and positive wife Carmen. She is surprised by the attacks on her husband’s character and strikes back in his defense.

All the actors are outstanding. I was taken in by their sincerity and the familiarity of the situation. As good as it was, however, it didn’t really go anywhere except to provide an outlet for the brothers to quarrel. Jack needed support and the sons were unable to adequately fill that simple need following mother’s passing.

While no happy ending was expected, I did hope that there would be some resolution that made me care about the future of the family. Yes, the situation hit home. Yes, the acting was superb. But there was no entertainment value, to me, in watching a family’s pain and suffering without giving me something to hope for.

When I go to the theater, I want to enjoy some temporary respite from my daily existence, not an extension of them. It is hoped that the writer (who also directed the piece) will continue to refine the work and offer some positive aspects to the outcome.

Friendly Valley runs for one more weekend, through April 24. www.santapaulatheatercenter.org (805) 525-4625. Adult content.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Outer Range – Amazon Originals

Outer Range centers around the life of Wyoming rancher Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin) who like many other ranchers struggled to live the ranching life and support his family. Though challenging, it would seem nothing compared to the unimaginable mystery he disovered in a remote area of his ranch, while at the same time a nomadic stranger named Autumn (Imogen Poot) appeared asking to camp on the land for a few days.

Royal Abbott was a family man who married into owning a ranch at the edge of the Wyoming wilderness that had been in his wife Cecilia’s (Lili Taylor) family for three generations. They lived a traditional ranching life with their two adult sons Perry (Tom Pelphrey) and Rhett (Lewis Pullman), who helped run the ranch. Perry lived on the ranch with his daughter Amy (Olive Abercrombie) and struggled with the absence of his wife Rebecca, who seems to have mysteriously disappeared and for which the entire family continues holding hope will return.

Wayne Tillerson (Will Patton) was the very wealthy owner the ranch adjacent to the Abbott’s run with the help of his three adult sons Luke (Shaun Sipos), Billy (Noah Reid) and Trevor (Matt Lauria), though they chose a more modern approach like riding ATVs instead of horses. Wayne was suffering from a health condition which left him mostly bedridden, but decided that he wanted to begin a land dispute and sent his sons to inform Royal that his fences included over a mile of adjacent land owned by the Tillerson’s according to the county maps.

This was not good for the Abbott’s, who struggled financially, and neither was the loss of two cattle on their last roundup, though there seemed no explanation as the fencing they normally escaped from was secure. Royal rode off with his sons to look for the lost cattle, all heading in different directions across the ranch, and found a mysterious hole approximatley 30 feet in diameter that had a strange mist over the top and seemed to have no bottom. Whatever he threw in just seemed to vanish and when he put his own hand in was flooded with thoughts of his past.

Royal was startled and returned to his house but said nothing about the hole or his experience. A young woman walked up the road wearing a large backpack and asked if she could camp on the ranch for a few days. Royal said it was private property but strangely agreed to let the woman, who introduced herself as Autumn, camp on the ranch telling her to stay to a particular area.

Little did Royal know how handy that hole would be when his sons brought home the dead body of Trevor Tillerson after a fight at the bar in town. Though he thought he was alone, Autumn saw Royal throw Trevor’s body into the hole, and confronted him about his actions but said she would keep his secret. Shockingly, the moment he let his guard down, Autumn pushed Royal into the hole and he floated backward into the darkness.

What Royal found on the other side was truly unimaginable and turns the story from what seemed to be a traditional modern day western tale of two families into a science fiction thriller filled with surprises. Each episode leaves viewers with more questions than answers and viewers get the benefit of watching two new episodes each week on Fridays.

Rated: TV-MA
Runtime: 8 – 1hr Episodes

by Shirley Lorraine

Rubicon Sets the Stage for the Season

The Rubicon Theatre has proudly reopened. Areas of the space, both upstairs and down, have been renovated, remodeled or renewed.

The night I attended the air was electric with excitement as the Rubicon staff and volunteers welcomed patrons back.

Rubicon’s 2022 “Welcome Home” season launched with a pre-season event titled “The Gin Game” by D.L. Coburn, featuring accomplished veteran actors JoBeth Williams and Joe Spano. Company stalwart Jenny Sullivan directed. The production heralded the re-opening of the Rubicon and after closing on April 3, goes on the road for a national tour, enticing audiences back into other regional theaters.

The Gin Game is a Pulitzer-prize winning exploration into life toward the end of the road. Weller Martin (Joe Spano) has been living at Bentley Nursing Home, a rather run-down facility, for some time. His solitary existence has rendered him grieving, bored, defeated, and generally unhappy. A newer resident, Fonsia Dorsey (JoBeth Williams) enters Martin’s lonely world and the two reluctantly become companions over frequent games of gin rummy. The problems begin when Fonsia cannot seem to lose at the game, bringing Weller’s frustration and anger to the surface.

The audience is swept up in the competitive banter between the two, interspersed with insights into a nursing home environment in which neither ever wanted to end up but to which they were consigned because of life circumstances. Despite their differences, the two find their situations have a great deal in common. The frailties and realities of life in a nursing home are constant reminders of the lives both used to enjoy.

Those with friends or relatives living in an elder care facility will find many familiar refrains throughout the play. The frustrations with “systems” are universal. To paraphrase a line Weller utters “we are stored here until the end.” The feeling seems to be common.

Both award-winning actors brought performances that pulled at the heart strings. What a lovely way to reintroduce audiences to the magic of live theater and of the Rubicon, our local jewel in Ventura’s artistic crown.

The next Rubicon production will be Twilight, Los Angeles, 1992, opening on the 30^th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots following the Rodney King incident. A powerful account of the “largest social explosion of the American 20^th century”, Twilight delves into the many sparks that fueled the emotional inferno that still evokes reactions today. It promises to be a must-see, thought-provoking production.

Across the county our theaters are announcing seasons full of variety. Actors and stage crews are in full swing rehearsing and preparing for you, their devoted audience. Most theaters still have mask and vaccination precautions in place – a small inconvenience for a large return. Your support ensures continuation of their health as well.

Check with each theater individually for their production schedules and guidelines. Do something nice for yourself. Attend live theater.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
The Power of the Dog – Netflix

The Power of the Dog is a 2022 Oscar winning Western set in Montana in1925 that focuses on the lives of wealthy ranchers Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his brother George (Jesse Plemons). Phil was rugged, fierce and the leader of a dozen ranch hands that lived the cowboy lifestyle, often causing him to act cruelly to gain the favor of his cowhand followers. George was very conservative, always wearing a suit and handled the business end of the family business.

The Burbank brothers and their men frequented the Red Mill restaurant owned by a window named Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and run with the help of her son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Peter was not very masculine, and along with helping his mother had hobbies like making paper flowers that resembled those he used to see in his mother’s old florist shop. Peter’s demeanor made him an easy target for Phil to insult to entertain his crew, causing both he and his mother to be in tears by the end of the evening.

George was always complimentary and kind, and comforted Rose while gripped with the frustration of seeing how her son was mistreated and misunderstood. George took a strong liking to Rose, and they were married shortly thereafter. Rose gave up her business and moved to the ranch with Peter, where she began to lose herself and drink to numb her reality. Peter was continually harassed and belittled by Phil and this band of bigots, who openly called him fairy and would intentionally make Peter feel scared and uncomfortable.

It seemed it would be only a matter of time before some ill would happen with Peter, with Phil often referring to him as Little Lord Fauntleroy and mocking him with every opportunity. One day while Peter was walking in the woods he happened upon Phil’s secret spot, where he found some magazines that focused on male bodies and though he did find Phil swimming nearby, Phil was unaware of Peter’s discovery.

For some reason after their chance meeting in the woods, Phil completely changed how he treated Peter, including teaching him to ride and spend time with the other cowhands. Phil even promised to make Peter his own rope and show him how to use it, but this simple gesture became his downfall. Phil didn’t know that the hide strips Peter gave him to finish the rope was from a diseased cow, which unknown to Peter was often the source of Anthrax on the ranch. As Phil braided the pieces of hide he shared the he and his idol Bronco Henry were more than just friends, and gave Peter a glimpse into the gentler, kinder side of Phil though nothing physical happened between them.

Not knowing it would be the last time they spoke, Phil talked about he and Peter riding away into the mountains and exploring like the original pioneers. The next morning Phil was unable to get out of bed, so his brother rushed him to the doctor but he died shortly after getting to town. Peter kept the rope but left the ranching life behind when Phil passed away, which seemed to help reconcile the relationship with his mother and her husband though Peter seemed to once again be in the world alone.

Rated: R (Full Nudity|Brief Sexual Content)
Runtime: 2h 8m

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
The Adam Project – Netflix

In The Adam Project, Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds) is a time traveling fighter pilot from 2050 who accidentally lands in 2022 and has to elicit the help of his younger self, 12-year-old Adam (Walker Scobell) to discover what happened to his wife Laura (Zoe Saldana) who was also a pilot he was told died under what he believed to be mysterious circumstances.

While home alone, Young Adam’s dog Hawking alerted him that there was something in the shed. When Young Adam opened the door, he found a man in a flight suit sitting on the floor bleeding from his side while Hawking laid next to him. Young Adam followed the injured man went into the house to tend to the bullet wound on his side, and began to recognize that the man seemed to know things around the house and about him, including his name.

Young Adam noticed that the man was wearing the same watch given to him by his father who passed away and that they shared the same scar on their chin. He realized that the pilot was his future self, which immediately caused him to have a asthma attack. Adam grabbed the inhaler from Young Adam’s pocket and knew exactly what to do, which confirmed the facts even more.

While waiting at the house for his jet and his wound to heal, Adam and Young Adam were confronted by Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener), who was their dad’s original business partner and became head of the time travel division in the future, which Adam fled from when landing in 2022 instead of his intended 2018. Maya sent a team of future soldiers to capture Adam, but to his surprise Laura, who he had been told died, appeared from the woods and aided him in defeating a dozen cyber soldiers.

They all fled to where Laura had been living since 2018, and Laura explained to Adam that she had discovered that Maya had traveled back in time to alter the timeline and insure that she would be head of Sorian and control the time travel division in the future. Adam felt the only one who could help was his father Louis (Mark Ruffalo), who died in 2020, and knew he had to go back to 2018 to fix everything, but Laura had to stay in 2022 as only Adam’s DNA was coded to his jet.

Adam found his father Louis teaching on campus, who quickly accepted that he was his son in the future and both went to his lab to try to prevent the future Maya had altered. Younger Maya showed up at the lab with Maya, who threatened to shoot Young Adam if Adam didn’t give her the hard drive that ran his dad’s invention. Young Adam broke away as Maya fired and hit the core, sending the lab into meltdown and magnetically drawing all the metal, including the cyber soldiers, toward the core, and Maya became her own demise when she fired at Louis, but the magnetic core turned the bullet toward younger Maya and killed her, thus eliminating future Maya as well.

Adam and Young Adam wanted to tell their dad how he was going to die, but Louis refused to let them try to prevent his death as it could change the future fall all of them. Adam and Louis shared a tender goodbye, and all had a group hug before both Adams disappeared back to the future.

The constant witty banter between Reynolds and Scobell is thoroughly entertaining, and Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner (Adam’s mother) also offer strong supporting roles, especially when on the receiving end of Reynolds’ well-known style of wit that is shared seamlessly with Scobell.

Rated: PG-13 (Language|Violence/Action|Suggestive References)
Runtime: 1h 46m

by Shirley Lorraine

Santa Paula Stages Full Experience
Theaters are reawakening with offerings that touch at our very souls. The current play at Santa Paula Theater Center, Thing I Know to be True, is one such play. A relatively new work, (2019), the play delves deeply into one family’s connections and disconnections in visually interesting ways.
Written by Andrew Bovell, Things I Know to be True is an exploration into those things in our lives that are revealed and those we try to keep secret that are somehow intuited by those close to us. It bares the struggles many families endure to sustain their emotional connections to each other and tests the limits of each member individually. It made me think – when is enough, enough? When do parents allow their progeny to make their own decisions, to lead their own lives, even when basic principles are at odds?

Directed by Santa Paula Theater Center’s new Artistic Director Jessi May Stevenson, the play evokes myriad emotions and reactions not only through the written words but is also beautifully accented by moments of movement that add a deeper level of meaning to the story. The subtle placement of a hand upon a shoulder, a glance, a distancing or simply standing still becomes integral to the depth of the action.

Fran and Bob Price (Sindy McKay and Richard Kuhlman) are a couple married over 40 years, whose four adult children are trying to cope with their own failures and are struggling with self-seeking while maintaining their family connections. Each worry over their particular struggles while mother and dad do their best to square their expectations with reality. Along the path there are many surprises leading each member of the family to cope (or not) with these revelations in varying ways, revealing their own fears, feelings, and disappointments.

To reveal much of the plot would be to minimize the experience for future audiences. This is a play which must be experienced fully. The creative and visually arresting setting by Mike Carnahan adds a great deal to the controlled, meaningful action. Carefully chosen music and lighting envelope the action for a complete, satisfying piece of theater.

Each of the daughters, played by Julie Fergus, Erin Hollander and Emily Redman Hall, and the one son, James James, all deliver solid and engaging performances. McKay and Kuhlman provide poignant, humorous and significant moments throughout, pulling everything together. All the actors are excellent. They are every family.

The play deals with perceptions, fear of change, desire to maintain status quo, how our choices affect others and inequalities of many kinds. It is life. You should go see it.

Masks and proof of vaccination are required to attend the performance, per current health department mandates.

The run of Things I Know to be True continues with performances Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through April 3. Book online and choose your seats. www.santapaulatheatrecenter, [email protected] or (805) 525-4645. The Center is located at 125 S. 7th Street, downtown Santa Paula.