REVIEW: 'Brilliant Traces' captivates, engages audience

           A new theater company is offering audiences a chance to dive headfirst into the world of experimental theater.           

           "Stage Left" and director Steven E. Hoffman Jr. will present their final performance of Cindy Lou Johnson's "Brilliant Traces" at The Art Studio, Inc., Sunday.

            A look inside the minds of two truly damaged individuals, "Brilliant Traces" centers around the relationship and interactions between two strangers, Rosannah DeLuce and Henry Harry.

            The play begins with Harry (Joe Whitaker) waking to the sounds of frantic knocking on the door of his one-room shack in the middle of Alaska. Cue DeLuce (Bonnie Dupuis), clad in a defeated wedding gown and satin slippers, who immediately entrances the audience with an emotional and disconnected monologue.

            The first 10 minutes give the audience a taste of everything the show has to offer — raw and powerful dialogue, incredible moments of silent acting, comedy found in awkward situations, compelling drama and fierce intensity.

            DeLuce and Harry are such emotionally battered and scarred characters that lesser actors would have caused the performance to fail. Harry has isolated himself in Alaska because of past traumatic events in his life, and DeLuce has a "pain in (her) DNA" that makes her erratic and wild. She's searching for someone who can "connect (her) to the Earth."

            Dupuis and Whitaker are compelling, believable — real. They bring a ferocity to their roles that quickly creates an intense audience connection.

            The Studio serves as the perfect setting for Harry's home. It's bare, dark and close-quarters. The audience lines the walls of the room, entrapping the two characters in the small space and forcing them to acknowledge and work through their problems.

            "Brilliant Traces" is a theater experience — not something to watch, but to feel. Audience members are not outsiders looking in. They're active participants.

            Sunday's show time is 5 p.m. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door. Cash only.

            TASI is located at 720 Franklin St. For more information, call TASI at 838-5393.