“Clara vs Infinity” is a Fascinating and Riveting Dose of Theatrical Magic
The wonderful Matthew Bridges, Kaylani Gaudart, Nikki Mckenzie, and members of the ensemble cast of “Clara vs Infinity” at The Zephyr Theatre.
When you find a show on a whim, decide to go check it out at the last minute, and it turns out to be refreshing, clever, and intelligent both in its conception and in its performance, you can file that under “a really good night.” Such is the case when I decided to go check out Clara vs. Infinity at the Zephyr Theatre, which closes this weekend. I don't often hear myself thinking that I need a show about overcoming grief, wrapped in an ensemble package of mathematics, statistics and numbers, let alone one that runs an hour and forty-five minutes without intermission, but that's exactly what I got, and as it turned out, it's exactly what I needed. If you think that this show might be too complicated or “heady” for you, make no mistake, the wonderfully theatrical Clara vs Infinity mesmerizes from beginning to end, is often laugh-out-loud funny, and will serve you an emotional punch that you won't soon forget.
Clara is a young girl who has just lost her father. Both she and her mother seem to be drowning in their current circumstances, but Clara has secrets. Along with her incredible intelligence, vivid imagination, and her obsession with the number Pi, she also cloaks herself in guilt and self-loathing over the death of her father. When Clara hears about a “Pi Recitation Bee,” with a grand prize of a $10,000, she decides to go on a secret sojourn from Boston to Washington, D.C. to win the money which would in turn, take some weight off her mother's shoulders. All of this is timed out so that her mother will have no idea that Clara has actually attempted said journey, and taken a credit card along for the ride. Through broken-down buses, Baltimore hotel rooms, wild animals, revelation, and redemption, what culminates here is a fine work of theatrical art. Clara vs Infinity is pointed and lean, with an impeccable cast leaving no stone unturned, and not an iota of theatrical stage time wasted. Guiding the audience through this highly detailed story with ease and humility, is the profoundly captivating and spot-on Kaylani Gaudart in the title roll of Clara, and the powerful Matthew Bridges as her extremely complex father (who is also referenced in the program as Number “Oh”). Number 9, aka Clara’s mother, Nikki Mckenzie, elicits such deep emotional connectivity that it’s impossible to not want to join her and Clara, in their process of grief and loss.
Wonderfully written by Zack Rocklin-Waltch, and directed by Jamie Gallo for Eight Ball Theatre, Clara vs Infinity is pure theatrical alchemy; a masterfully crafted, highly paced feature-length journey of love through a maze of mental, spiritual and emotional obsession. Done in the style of the Commedia dell'arte, via Bertolt Brecht, a la Peter Brooke, with a large, ravenously talented, and controlled supporting ensemble, each are named after numbers and are given plenty of moments to shine as they as they gallantly fill in the rest of the blanks as observers, narrators, musicians, and puppeteers. They include as “numbered” Luke Dimyan (1), Collette McCurdy (2), Alex Nimrod (3), Audrey Forman (4), Kameron Brown (5), Nina Romeo (6) Seth Gunawardena (7) and Quaz Degraft (8) and all are to be commended.
Clara sits with her father in “Clara vs Infinity” at The Zephyr Theatre through April 26th.
Gallo, who has the added help of a talented tech team, among them, Kate Schaaf (Scenic Designer), Olivia Dakin (Costumes) and Konner Syed (Sound Design), succeeds in hitting this show out of the park and into infinity on nearly every level. With so much emphasis nowadays on uncertainty, artificial intelligence, plasticality, flash, lies and human emotional dysmorphia, Clara vs Infinity is 100% honest, real and just might be the balm that all our souls need. This show is not to be missed.
On a more personal note, having lost my mother last year, I identified on many levels, as I suspect anyone who has lost someone dear to them would. I was not however, fond of Mathematics but found the piece’s use of Math as a device to be quite fascinating.
Performances are Friday the 24th & Saturday the 25th at 8PM, with a 3:30 matinee on Saturday the 25th and a 2pm Matinee on Sunday, April 26th. The Zephyr Theatre is located at 7456 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.
Click here for tickets and more information on Clara vs Infinity and the Eight Ball Theatre.