"Sphere of Fixed Stars" a Poignant and Beautifully Rendered Play
Updated: Jun 20
Wednesday, June 19th, Los Angeles, CA
written by Entertainment Editor, Dan Ruth
I wanted to see The Sphere of Fixed Stars in the Heavens because I love a good title, but when I left the Broadwater Theatre Main Stage last night, my head was not in the stars, rather I left feeling very alone and it took me until the morning to piece together the complexities of J. Holtham’s beautifully rendered play, now showing as part of The Hollywood Fringe. Some plays aren’t meant to have the audience jump to their feet with applause, their hearts full of joy, basking in the remarkable experience they just witnessed. Some plays need to sit with you, not forcing you to think one-way or another, but they tug at your soul and make you question your choices. As they sit with you, some plays don’t give your mind a moments rest until it’s satisfied with how all the pieces fit together. This is one such a play, and yes, it's a love story, it's very funny in places, but it truly succeeds in it's charming, graceful and bittersweet writing.
The Sphere of Fixed Stars in the Heavens is a series of vignettes, centered around the chance, or perhaps clandestine meeting of Elodie (Tiffany Smith) and Owen (VonDexter Montegut II), with each scene set on the same rooftop somewhere in North Hollywood. The two are seemingly awkward with each other as they mill about their varying opinions on Halloween, their identity among white culture, the evils of chocolate cake, and their mutual love for pie. We discover that Owen is an artist, an animator to be exact, who prefers pecan pie and can’t quite pronounce Elodie’s name. Elodie in turn, claims to work in a licorice factory and is partial to cherry pie. I mention these random, mundane things because they are rooted in the small space of tangible reality that’s about to turn on its head. We discover that Elodie is actually under a NDA of sorts, as she hints that she is working for the government. Elodie is in fact, an astronaut testing a new spacecraft that travels at warp speed. Each time the couple meets on that same rooftop, time has skewed and while Owen’s sense time seems to remain the same, Elodie's time slows down (his seven months is ten days to her). So while Owen dreams of a mundane life, shopping at Target and growing old with Elodie, she in turn, with her life full of ambition, does not want to be tied down. Each time the two part ways, time speeds up in this off-kilter world, and each time, Owen waits for Elodie, and Elodie faithfully returns, but to an older and older Owen. The play continues to turn in on itself, with Elodie, each time, pleading with Owen that they only have the time now and to enjoy each other now before she must leave once again. As the play progresses, Owen has written an animated story (his “Mad Men”) about Elodie, a star that comes to earth and leaves again, but whose brightness and joy manages to actually save the world, meaning the story he wrote, that is focused on her, actually saves mankind.
The Sphere of Fixed Stars in the Heavens is an eloquent journey into love, connection and mutual respect, pairing J. Holtham’s masterful and sharp dialogue with joyous and focused performances by its two stars. J. Holtham’s extremely complex world is a lost world, where things are not what they seem; it’s a world that has gradually been altered by bad people, a bad economy and bad government. It’s a world that is pleading with us to take comfort in the present, to be present with and for ourselves and one another, which is a feet that is quickly slipping through our fingers, as this world of disconnect and consumerism inches closer and closer to oblivion. But that's what is so beautiful about the world painted by J. Holtham, the reason I felt so alone when I left the theatre and the reason I felt so good today. There’s always that chance that you might meet a stranger on a rooftop somewhere on this planet, and yes I’m speaking of myself as well, and when you do, don’t wait. Don’t miss the chance to connect. Some of us, as artistic beings, are often blinded by our ambition and don’t take the time to connect with others, and in a city like Los Angeles, this cold, hard fact hits very close to home.
I really respect this play, and for a Fringe show, this play rises well above, so if you enjoy finely crafted theatre, do not miss this disturbingly beautiful and very funny show. The Sphere of Fixed Stars in the Heavens is directed by J. Holtham and Ellie Pyle. It should also be noted that the incidental music by Jessie Montgomery is sublime and sound design by James Ingram suits this show beautifully.
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