Wednesday night I attended my first ever production at the critically acclaimed theater company, Kitchen Dog Theater (the company's name is drawn from Becket's play, Waiting for Godot). The play was Some Explicit Polaroids by Mark Ravenhill, the West Sussex playwright who wrote the controversial play Shopping and Fucking.

The play takes place in 1999 somewhere in England. Nick (Bill Jenkins) is a 1980s revolutionary who has been in prison since 1984 for attempted murder. He tried to kill Jonathan (Ross Morgan), who is a capitalist, which represents everything Nick and his former lover Helen (Theo Lane Moffett), who is now a councillor and a prospective MP, are against. Helen does not want Nick back, so he is stranded on the streets where he comes upon a man beating a woman, a topless dancer named Nadia (Amy Shoults). Nadia has a best friend, Tim (David Plunkett), a young dance club drug addict who has AIDS, but also has rented a Russian boy-toy, Victor(Michael Hanson). These six people take the audience on a journey of pain, of love ripped to shreds, of not admitting your true emotions and feelings to yourself or those around you. But it is also a look into the empty and confused worlds of two generations, and where their paths of life will lead.

All of these emotions and conflicts are played on a stark, cold, silver mylar set designed by Michael Sullivan. A stroke of delicious symbolism is the material used for the "walls", for it is reminiscent of the material used for condoms; thus these peoples' lives are surrounded by a material that offers protection from illness and death, or maybe from pain, but neither of those goals is achieved. The stage is slightly raked and the stage floor is covered with blinding silver mylar. Steve Woods' lighting design is perfect. Using various lighting instruments and positioning them just right achieves the look of a small loft and a stale, cold hospital. He uses small dashes of color to let the audience feel that the world these people live in is cold, colorless, plain, and dull. There is a dash of green for the airport and a splash of lavender to symbolize the dance club.

David Nelson's costumes create the final piece of the perfect puzzle of a design team. Nelson's use of British anti-establishment club kid costumes for Tim, Victor, and Nadia is just right. He also has Helen dressed in selections from a stiff, snotty politician wardrobe, right down to the pearls and white shoes.

Kudos must also go to Videographer Bruce Richardson who, along with Brian Ashcraft, did the video editing. To add one more layer of excellent subtext and non-verbal communication, the design team has hanging above the thrust stage three large black TV monitors on silver hanging squares. These black TV sets flash vignettes of images of various events, people, commercials, porno flicks, and a slew of pop culture references. Each vignette ends with a word or two to let the audience know where we are, such as "Helen's flat" or "hospital"; thus you get a flash picture, or Polaroid, of their lives. The best use of these video images is before and after the hospital scene with Tim, Victor, and Nadia (which happens to be the best scene of the entire production).

Director Tim Johnson has cast this production superbly. Bill Jenkins gives a smashing performance as Nick. But where Jenkins really earns his praise is in the way he, as Nick, transforms from a handsome and healthy ex-convict to a beaten, sunken skinned, decaying man who is at the end of his rope and his sanity. His finest acting moment comes in act two when he is face to face with the man he tried to kill back in 1984. Jenkins' performance is mesmerizing, stripping naked as Nick sheds the "skins" of his past, to finally rid himself of the massive guilt and pain that has been on his back for so long. Jenkins is one of the bravest actors I know.

David Plunkett, as Tim, truly shows his range as an actor with his performance as the angry young club guy who happens to have AIDS. Plunkett's finest acting is shown through hurtful truths and lies during act two's hospital scene. Plunkett watches his heart break, but with undertones of "okay, well f*** them!" flowing underneath this contempt for human love. Plunkett gives a tour-de-force performance.

Amy Shoults is superb as Nadia, the topless dancer who not only has bad taste in shoes, but also in her choice of men. One of her beaus, Simon, beats her up constantly, but for some sick reason Naida still loves and forgives him. Nick happens to see Nadia being beaten and he saves her. The sexual electricity between Nick (Jenkins) and Nadia (Shoults) is scorching in the scene in which these two meet for the first time. Shoults gives a phenomenal performance as a woman who actually finds love, but because of her inner battles and the attitudes that Tim has forced on her, she just cannot let her love continue on the path that Nick wants. Shoults has a very demanding role on her plate, requiring her to change emotions in a flash.

Michael Hanson as the Russian rent boy-toy Victor is another brilliant performer in this dark play. Hanson creates genuine sympathy for Victor, which is a hard task to achieve; Victor is so shallow and empty and obsessed with his body. But he becomes the only one to show what he truly feels, and he tells that person what he feels. Hanson is heartbreaking in the hospital scene with Plunkett; it is devastating to watch.

Rounding out the cast are Theo Lane Moffett as Helen and Ross Morgan as Jonathan. Both thespians deliver top notch performances as well. Moffett's stone cold portrayal of a woman who only cares about her career and wants her past wiped away is fantastic. Morgan (who has a very elegant speaking voice) gives his role a veil of perfect snotty English politician, but he wants revenge on Nick. To see his character come to accept what his actions have wrought is remarkable, due to Morgan's acting and stage presence.

Director Johnson has pulled amazing performances and design elements from his cast and production team. Johnson's blocking should also be applauded. As noted before, the stage is semi-raked, and also thrust. But Johnson blocks his actors in various degrees and angles so the audience doesn't miss any key moments in the piece. The pace and energy was also right on the money. The way some scenes had the actors overlap each other's dialogue during heated moments or arguments is classic; it feels like real life.

There are problems in two areas, some long winded speeches about society, politics, and the status of the world and some some plot moments did not make sense. Also, the British dialects are so strong and authentic (especially the first scene with Nick and Helen) it is difficult to understand them at times. This is a credit to the actors' talent with dialects, but make the play harder to follow for those who don't easily catch on to the British way of speaking.

I'm slowly becoming less afraid of "thinking" theatre, and the credit goes to Kitchen Dog Theater, Director Johnson, and the top notch cast of Some Explicit Polaroids.

Some Explicit Polaroids runs through Nov 11 at the Black Box Theater at the McKinney Ave Contemporary. Call 214-953-1055 for tickets and information.

Some Explicit Polaroids
Kitchen Dog Theater
Directed by Tim Johnson
Set Designed by Michael Sullivan
Lighting designed by Steve Woods
Costumes Designed by David Nelson
Video Editing by Bruce Richardson, Brian Ashcraft
Videography by Bruce Richardson

CAST
Nick - Bill Jenkins
Helen - Theo Lane Moffett
Nadia - Amy Shoults
Victor - Michael Hanson
Tim - David Plunkett
Jonathan - Ross Morgan

--John Garcia