AMAZING AND EPIC
Palm Springs’ queer theatre company, The Bent, is justifiably proud that they are the first non-professional company on the West Coast to be granted the rights to Matthew Lopez’s The Inheritance, Part One, a play that The Telegraph described as “The most important American play of the century.” Almost every actor in The Coachella Valley parlayed for one of the 10 roles in this noteworthy production. Artistic Director Steve Rosenbaum has frequently said, “Be careful what you wish for” as he has brought this three-hour production to life, but he should be proud of the results which are currently on view at Palm Springs Cultural Center.
As we enter the theatre we see hip-height bookcases going across the entire upstage and continuing on the two sides. Their outer surfaces seem to be covered with carpet which works keenly with Rosenbaum’s direction as actors frequently or lounge on them. There are tall white curtains on the back wall and the two sides and there is a backless sofa center stage
At the beginning of the show eight men wander on at their own pace. They are all dressed in tan or white pants and white shirts but no two outfits match (e.g., the white shirts are polo, t-shirt, button-up, etc.). They all carry notebooks and when they start to talk to each other, we learn that they are trying to write stories but aren’t sure how to start. Then an older man wearing a dark suit enters through the aisle of the theatre. He gives the young men advice on writing. Is he a professor? An experienced author? Actually that man, skillfully played by Terry Ray, is many things in the show. Significantly he is a generation ahead of the rest of the cast. He plays several adults — including E.M Forster, whose masterpiece Howards End inspired the writing of this play — but also interjects comments about the action as if he is some sort of omnipotent puppet-master.
When a student asks how to begin writing, the older man prods him into telling his own story and that story is the basis for most of the remainder of the play.
The student tells about a gay couple, Toby Darling (Thomas Dodge Wheatly in a stellar performance) and Eric Glass (Alex Price, wonderful as always and unrecognizable without his moustache) who have been together for seven years. They both meet a young man named Adam (the storyteller/student, Samuel Moffat) who they both eventually fall for. As Toby goes on to work out of town with Adam, Eric spends more time with his older upstairs neighbor, Walter (Ray), introducing a multi-generational element. Walter finishes Act I with a very moving (and impossibly difficult) monologue about the impact of AIDS on his generation — the younger generation becomes involved in the story, leading to a very dramatic first act curtain.
Throughout the production, none of the nine actors ever leave the stage and each of them play incidental roles. Lopez has also broken up lines between multiple actors — a pattern that no one handles better than Rosenbaum — and watching the play is like watching a rapidly moving river that sometimes splashes over a rock to your left, then has an eddy to your right, and then comes directly at you with full force. Rosenbaum’s choreography of bodies and props in unmatched. The other actors are James Anthony Blanco, Ronny Borrelli, Kai Brothers, Travis Creston Detwiler, Willie Mullins, and joining late in Act II, Brian Newkirk.
Trying to boil the script down to a love triangle does it a disservice. First of all it is an amazing piece of theatre where a group of men tell a unified story; sometimes lounging around the set watching the main action, sometimes joining in at parties or bars, sometimes commenting on the action as it occurs center stage.
Jason Reale’s set is a delight – yes, the same Jason Reale who has handled the leads in so many shows in the Valley, who has designed most of The Bent’s recent sets, and even creates the company’s graphics — and he somehow does all of them brilliantly. And once again, Nick Wass has excelled with lights and, particularly, projections. The tightly-pleated white floor-to-ceiling drapes on three sides of the stage serve as an excellent screen for projections while still giving the set the air of an elegant uptown apartment. One of his projections totally blew me away. A character is describing seeing the roof of a house over a hedge and we, too, see it on the upstage curtains. Then as the character’s narrative goes on, we move around the hedge, see more of the house, walk up to the front porch, and then the door opens — all with a totally realistic appearance.
Kudra Wagner as Production Manager and Nathan Cox as Stage Manager keep the production flowing, including dozens of props being placed exactly where the actor’s hand reaches out for them. Wagner also shared costume credits with Cherlyn Lanning. And top marks to Damian Jesus Mercado for his sound design. Audibility has been an ongoing problem at The Cultural Center and by judiciously using radio mics he has managed to make all actors easy to hear without sounding amplified.
It’s hard to believe that this amazing show wraps up The Bent’s third season in Palm Springs. It seems like they only opened recently. As important as it is for Palm Springs to have a queer theatre, The Bent proudly stands up as one of the top producing companies in The Coachella Valley, gay or otherwise. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait for summer to pass before they start their fourth season, which begins with The Inheritance, Part Two. In the meantime, I urge all Valley theatre goers – and especially the numerous gay ones – to catch The Inheritance, Part One before it closes.
photos by Jim Cox
The Inheritance, Part One
The Bent Theatre
in association with The Palm Springs Cultural Center
Camelot Theatres, 2300 East Baristo Road in Palm Springs
Thurs-Sat at 7; Sun at 2
ends on May 25, 2025
for tickets ($42), visit The Bent
