TIM HNAT

January 23, 2004

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

10

Dylan Taylor Sinclair (Jeff Staron) returns Sebastian Bliss' (Tyson Postma) letters, freeing him from their dysfunctional relationship.

Twins on the verge of a nervous breakdown Ohio premiere of Raised in Captivity sends laughter rippling through the audience

Reviewed by Anthony Glassman

"I am inertia given human form," moans Sebastian Bliss, who hasn't felt anything in 11 years, since his boyfriend died of AIDS.

"I was a prisoner in my mother's life. I was miserable," cries his twin sister Bernadette Dixon a while later.

These emotional malaises are at the center of Nicky Silver's Raised in Captivity, which is having its Ohio premiere at Dobama Theater in Cleveland Heights.

The openly gay Silver's works have been a central Ohio mainstay for years. At least four of his plays have been produced in Columbus, including Free Will & Wanton Lust last year. Dobama originally tried to bring Raised to the stage a year ago, but the show was cut due to the financial difficulties throughout the arts world.

Now it's here, and audiences should be glad. An odd mix of humor and intensity, Silver's play deals with the twins, Sebastian and Bernadette, who see each other for the first time in years at their mother's funeral.

Sebastian is aloof, afraid to feel, afraid of other people's emotions. Bernadette is nothing but emotion, prone to go off on crying jags at a moment's notice and little or no provocation.

Having left home at age 16 to attend Yale University, Sebastian was an infrequent visitor to his family's lives. Seeing him at the funeral, his sister is desperate to bring him back into her life.

With a husband who's as big a lunkhead as Kip Dixon, her brother, however emotionally detached, would be a breath of fresh air.

Sebastian escapes onto the couch of his psychologist, who is a classic example of the saying, "Physician, heal thyself." The woman is nuts. He breaks off his therapy, sending her spiraling into psychosis.

Sebastian does, however, have one emotional outlet: He has a pen pal, a convicted killer who is serving a life sentence. Eventually, Sebastian breaks down and hires a hustler, an act that leads to a visit from his dead mother and a reunion with his sister before the climax and denouement.

In a typically pleasing presentation by Dobama, director Russ Borski makes great use of the intimacy of the basement performing space on Coventry, bringing the audience to the grave of Mrs. Bliss, into the offices and living rooms of the characters. The theater might not be able to handle a full production of Les Misérables, but for an intimate show like this, it's perfect.

As for the cast, they're marvelous. Tyson and Tyler Postma as Sebastian and Bernadette are wonderful. It's quite a treat to see siblings playing siblings on the stage, since they bring a lifetime of experience to the role.

Mr. Postma resembles Terry Kinney, who played Tim McManus on the HBO series Oz. Postma is as good an actor, and the two characters also had trouble with emotional connections, an odd convergence of actors and characters.

Ms. Postma makes the most of one of the most annoyingly needy characters around, constantly clutching at her brother, grasping, trying to drag him back into her life.

As her husband Kip, Sean Derry is pretty amusing. Kip is a dentist, although he hates

teeth, and wants to be an artist, although he only uses white paint. Yes, the character's an idiot, but he's loving and well-intentioned.

Jeff Staron presents two very different, yet heartbreakingly similar characters as both the convict pen-pal and the hustler. Both are damaged by their pasts, and Sebastian loves one and wants to love the other. As Dylan Taylor Sinclair, the killer, he's Southern and apparently well-mannered. As Roger, the hustler, he's just, well, kinda hot.

Finally, one of the jewels in the production's crown is Juliette Regnier. While an actor should never be judged by her spouse, it's apparent that husband Michael Regnier (Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge, Shopping and Fucking) is not the only one in the family with massive amounts of talent. As both the psychologist and Sebastian and Bernadette's mother, Regnier carries herself with such dignity, mirth and skill that it would be difficult to believe she's the shortest member of the cast, were it not for the fact that she spends most of her time standing near the other cast members. One might suppose the two Regniers together might have produced a couple of superactor children. Only time will tell.

The Ohio debut of Nicky Silver's Raised in Captivity runs through February 8 at Dobama Theater, 1846 Coventry Rd. in Cleveland Heights. Their box office can be reached at 216-932-3396. For more information, log onto www.dobama.org.