THEATER : Rooted in Truth : Ric Krause’s long-standing attraction to the circus is reflected in his ‘Why Things Burn,’ a work the playwright calls ‘a balance between darkness and cheap humor.’
Get ready for an odd bunch of characters at the Road Theatre. There’s Ray the strongman. Vera the trick rider. Albert the fire- eater. Fritz the runaway. Prince Randian the razor-eater. An Irish beat cop, a waiter and a casting director.
A fictional second-rate circus that disbands on the outskirts of Los Angeles circa 1952 is the subject of Ric Krause’s “Why Things Burn,†an eight-actor, 30-scene, 75-minute ode to the stylistic period works of Jim Thompson and James Ellroy.
“I soaked myself in their work, read a ton of stuff about L.A.,†said Krause, who developed the piece last year in the Mark Taper Forum’s Mentor Playwriting Program. “The final product is a hybrid, a balance between darkness and cheap humor.â€
The writer, 33, cites a long-standing attraction to the circus--â€forever, or since I was a kidâ€--and as a college student, worked in a carnival during summers, parking cars for a show that traveled from Florida to Upstate New York. Last spring, he also worked with former performers from the Pickle Family Circus in a play called “Calendar Girl†for the new San Francisco theater group Vaudeville Nouveau.
Music has been a fundamental influence, as well. Born to a banker father and a musician mother, Krause grew up around musicians--Miles Davis and Frederick Loewe were Manhattan neighbors--and was himself “forced to play the piano†from age 3. By 14, he was playing guitar in bars, and at New York’s Bard College he was a composition major.
“I see an oral texture to writing; it feels very much like composition to me,†Krause noted. “Moving down the food chain†into acting jobs in New York, he worked with the experimental theater group Mabou Mines and composer Elizabeth Swados, and played “youths with big problems†on the soaps “Another World†and “The Guiding Light.â€
In 1985, Krause moved to Los Angeles on the heels of a small part in the Gene Hackman-Matt Dillon spy thriller “Target.â€
“You do one movie, and you think L.A.’s gonna fall at your feet,†he says dryly. It didn’t. After working just three times in three years, in the midst of a messy breakup and “feeling like I was losing my mind,†Krause took a stab at writing. “I didn’t leave my house for six months,†he says, “and I wrote my first play.â€
That piece, “Dr. Jimmy’s Heartbreak Hour,†eventually found its way to director Jan Lewis, who’s now staging “Why Things Burn.â€
“I liked his writing immediately,†said Lewis, who has served as literary manager and dramaturge at the Odyssey Theatre since 1985. “I think he’s got a very unusual take on language and imagery. His style is definitely not flowery; it’s simple and stark. Yet the images are lyrical, powerful. Actually, he underwrites--which as a dramaturge is a rare thing to find. There’s almost not enough there. And because he was trained as a musician, he has great rhythms. I love pieces that work like a piece of music.â€
As for the story itself, “It is unusual,†said Lewis, who directed “Among the Vipers†at the Odyssey in 1991 and also spent a year performing in its long-running production of “Kvetch.†“Ric’s got a very interesting take on reality and the world. The characters in this are bizarre and in unusual circumstances, but they’re fundamentally rooted in truth. So it’s very honest and grounded. Over the years, in workshops and readings, that’s what Ric keeps saying: ‘It’s got to feel real.’ â€
Where and When What: “Why Things Burn.†Location: Road Theatre Company, 10741 Sherman Way, No. 8, Sun Valley. Hours: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, until Dec. 19. Price: $12. Call: (818) 764-5363.
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