‘Monuments’: A Clever Tribute to Well-Built Plays

ANAHEIM â€”  Many young playwrights scorn “the well-made play.â€� It is old-fashioned, they say, with its beginning, middle and end, with its balance of action and emotion. (They forget that a really well-made play simply is one that works.)

Steve Spehar has written a decidedly well-made play: “Monuments,� now in its second, and expanded, incarnation at Stages. It is lucid, deucedly clever and beautifully constructed. It is often very funny, and when it gets dead serious, quite insightful.

“Monuments� is a dream sequence (think of “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari� or “Last Year at Marienbad�) and a farce of sorts (think Feydeau). It also tackles a bit of metaphysics and a broken-mirror vision of a mind shattering. Quite a task, and Spehar handles it with skill and empathy.

He also is one of those few playwrights who seem capable of directing his own work. The only, and very minor, quibble here would concern the scenic design, also by Spehar, which might be simplified mechanically to speed up the many necessary but too-lengthy changes.

The work itself is totally satisfying, though, a feat of theatrical legerdemain that is firm in its intent and execution, and a lot of fun. The plot is simple, as in all well-made plays: Avant-garde director Henry Mann (Brian Kojak) has been commissioned to stage a play, as yet unwritten. He is set on retiring from the stage, so he decides the play will be about his death.

He has had a dream in which a mysterious figure appears at his door, announcing, “I am a builder of monuments.� Best friend Daniel Blake (Bradley A. Whitfield) has the same dream. Suddenly there is a knock on the door and a mysterious figure enters, silent but speaking through the voice of the equally mysterious Maria. His name is Gabriel, and he is here to help Mann finish his work.

The play is cast. And then the fun starts. Characters begin merging into one another. Settings duplicate themselves eerily, as though seen through many mirrors in a fun house. We suddenly find ourselves deeper and deeper into Mann’s dream, chuckling all the while until the author--as in any well-made play--ties everything up in a fine little knot with the final line. Actually, it’s the final word.

The company is excellent. Kojak is volatile and slightly sleazy as Mann. Teresa Carrillo is fiery as Mann’s actress wife, Marion. Whitfield is perfect as the hero’s not-too-swift best friend. Keri Kropke, K.C. Mercer, Jennifer Bishton and--though he speaks not one word--Patrick Gwaltney also are outstanding.

* “Monuments,� Stages, 1188 N. Fountain Way, Suite E, Anaheim. Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m. Ends Sunday. $8. (714) 630-3059. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes.

Brian Kojak: Henry Mann

Bradley A. Whitfield: Daniel Blake

Teresa Carrillo: Marion

Jennifer Bishton: Maria

Patrick Gwaltney: Gabriel

Keri Kropke: Eva

K.C. Mercer: Gabriel No. 2

A Stages production of a play by Steve Spehar, directed by Spehar, produced by Tracy Perdue. Scenic and sound designs by Spehar. Lighting design: Kirk Huff. Costume design: Susanna Garcia.