Set in the world of advertising, Fin Kennedy's "How to Disappear Completely and Never be Found" is a tale of excess and loss. When ad executive Charlie (Carlo Lorenzo Garcia, equally excellent in moments dire and humorous) loses consciousness and wakes to find himself inexplicably in the subway's Lost and Found, it's clear his grip on reality is slipping. Pursued by a mysterious pathologist who knows a little too much about him, and clutching his dead mother's ashes, Charlie must navigate through an increasingly alienating and claustrophobic world in which Starbucks crowd every corner and, to quote the peculiar proprietor of the Lost and Found, "you are nothing so long as you are quiet."
The show's topsy-turvy set, all hidden doors and crooked walls, and moody lighting combine with its brisk, anxious pace to a create a rising sense of disquiet. Director Richard Cotovsky uses and reuses actors, contributing to the faceless society the play depicts. Although individually talented, the ensemble's facility with dialects proves a unifying factor, allowing the audience to suspend disbelief as an unbelievable story unfolds. In totality a strong production, "How to Disappear" pushes all our postmodern buttons, reminding us of how fast we as a society scurry, only to remain standing still.
Reviewed by Centerstage!
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