A GAME OF HEARTS PLAYED FACE DOWN
There is no question that Ann Noble is one of the most talented actresses gracing the stages of Los Angeles. There are moments in her bitter-sweet, two-person clown show 52 Pick-Up at the Broadwater Studio, where this shines through. However, the show itself does not work. At the top, Noble is lying prone among trash cans, surrounded by scattered playing cards. Another clown enters (co-creator of the show, Jeffrey Johnson), a guitar-carrying, poor soul like Noble’s clown persona. Thus begins a struggle between these two “throwaway” people, the mistrustful Noble and the solicitous Johnson, whose kindness the wary Noble is incapable of accepting.
Written by Noble and Michael Perlmutter, there is an serious issue being addressed here, Noble and Johnson leave no doubt of that, and the scattered cards play a major part in that discussion. However, this symbolic language, which involves the cards taking on larger and larger dimensions, is not made accessible to the audience (there is little dialogue). As directed by Noble, the result is confusing, like watching a foreign film without the benefit of subtitles. You know something of urgency is going on, you just don’t know what it is.
The problem here is also with the choice of venue. There are drawbacks to specific theatres that any production must recognize if selecting them to perform in. With The Studio, the issue is its sight lines. Nothing situated downstage and performed below the mid-line of the venue’s wall will be visible to any row other than the very front one. Noble and Johnson spent half the show on the floor among the scattered cards, and thus were almost completely blocked from three-quarters of the audience.
Noble has ventured into the realm of clowning before with A Bella Incarceration at The Fringe last year. Even in a different venue, much was played closer to the ground. Still, she is to be commended for stepping out of her comfort zone (if she even has one!); she has resolve and courage and is eminently watchable, Indeed, both clowns in this existential situation have extremely expressive faces. But this is one situation wherein one should NOT play one’s cards close to one’s chest.
52 Pick-Up
The Broadwater (Studio), 1078 Lillian Way
part of The Hollywood Fringe Festival
1 hour; ends on June 29, 2025
for tickets ($24), visit 52 Pick-Up
