Photo by Daren Scott
Ruff Yeager and Roxane Carrasco in Margin of Error
Anton Myrvold is a brilliant physicist. He’s also a pompous, conscienceless narcissist. Who wouldn’t love to play a man like that? At the Lyceum space in downtown, Ruff Yeager sinks his teeth into the meaty role of Myrvold, the central figure of Will Cooper’s trenchant drama Margin of Error. This world premiere is the inaugural production of San Diego’s newest theater company, the Roustabouts, co-founded by Cooper, Yeager and actor/director Phil Johnson. It’s a tightly wound affair skillfully directed by Rosina Reynolds that begins with the Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?-type setup of a mature couple (Yeager and Roxane Carrasco, as Myrvold’s wife) hosting a young couple (Joel Miller and Kate Rose Reynolds as Myrvold’s former students, Gray and Britt) in an evening that turns explosive. There, any comparisons end. Margin of Error revolves completely around Anton Myrvold, whose Jupiter-sized ego at the outset of the story is further inflated by the arrival of a letter all but predicting an impending Nobel Prize.
Myrvold’s prize should be his human-rights activist wife Sunita, who loves and tolerates him, but he is a man of unprincipled ambition and ethical vacancy, to which not only Sunita, but also Gray and Britt are subject. In Margin of Error, the question isn’t when the smug Myrvold will be undone, but how. If there’s a narrative defect in the undoing, it’s that the play’s emotional explosions in the end are deactivated in a kind of everyone-loses alleviation engineered by the hurt but enlightened Sunita. Given the wounds inflicted by that point, there should be more damage. Even academics have been known to lose it.
Yeager is Margin of Error’s engine—orating, flaring, stalking. Carrasco does well with a Sunita who is almost too calm to be true, while Miller’s straight-laced Gray has to be either solicitous or pissed off. The other standout here is Reynolds, who sublimely brings to the surface Britt’s own ethical conflict, ambition and moral ambiguity. Her pained silences, either when confronted by Sunita or in Myrvold’s predatory clutches, ring truer than any empirical principles Britt might have espoused on the way to her doctorate. Her cuts are the deepest.
Margin of Error runs through May 7 at the Lyceum Theatre in Horton Plaza, downtown. $42; theroustabouts.org
Opening:
Almost, Maine: John Cariani’s famous play that features nine separate stories about love and loss in a small, New England town. Directed by Eric Bishop, it opens April 27 at the MiraCosta College Theatre in Oceanside. miracosta.edu
San Diego Student Shakespeare Festival: Teams of students from city and county schools will perform 10-minute scenes from Shakespeare on outdoor stages. Presented by the San Diego Shakespeare Society, it happens April 29 at the El Prado Promenade in Balboa Park. sandiegoshakespearesociety.org
Now Playing:
The Geeze and Me: The world premiere musical centers on the pitfalls of aging. Presented by Rag Lady Productions, it runs through April 29 at the Tenth Avenue Arts Center in Downtown. thegeezeandme.com
Flemming (An American Thriller): In Sam Bobrick’s dark comedy, a broker sells his firm to become a detective only to find his first case hits a little too close to home. Presented by Scripps Ranch Theatre, it runs through April 30 at the Legler Benbough Theatre in Scripps Ranch. scrippsranchtheatre.org
Red Velvet: When an acclaimed British actor can’t play Othello, a Black American steps in to play the title character in early 1800’s London. Written by Lolita Chakrabarti, it runs through April 30 at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. theoldglobe.org
On the 20th Century: A comedic musical about a down-on-his-luck theatre producer who is trying to convince his actress ex to play the main part is a nonexistent drama. Directed by Sean Murray, it runs through April 30 at the Cygnet Theatre in Old Town. cygnettheatre.com
The Man Who Came to Dinner: The classic Kaufmann and Hart comedy about an arrogant radio personality who gets stuck in a small town following an injury. Presented by Premier Productions, it runs through April 30 at the Welk Resort Theatre in Escondido. broadwayvista.biz
First Date: A musical comedy about a blind date where the two main characters’ inner issues are manifested into the patrons at the restaurant. Presented by San Diego Musical Theatre, it opens May 7 at the Horton Grand Theatre in the Gaslamp. sdmt.org
Margins of Error: In this world premiere drama from Will Cooper, a revered scientist, his wife and two students attempt to break down love and deceit to a science. Presented by the Roustabouts Theatre Company, it runs through May 7 at the Lyceum Theatre in the Gaslamp. theroustabouts.org
Skeleton Crew: An autoworker finds herself torn between doing what’s best for her family and her fellow employees in this new play that takes place in Detroit during the Great Recession. Written by Dominique Morisseau, it runs through May 7 at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. theoldglobe.org
Travels With My Aunt: Four actors play 20 different roles in this offbeat comedy about an eccentric aunt who changes the life of her stuffy nephew. Written by Graham Greene, it runs through May 7 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org
Heathers: A musical adaptation of the classic ‘80s movie about two high school lovers who start killing their classmates. Directed by Manny & Tony Bejarano, it runs through May 27 at the OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista. onstageplayhouse.info
Silent Sky: Lauren Gunderson’s new play about the forgotten women of the Harvard Observatory, who made breakthroughs in the field of astronomy. Directed by Robert Smyth, it runs through May 28 at the Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado. lambsplayers.org