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| L to R_Louie Liberti, Moe Irvin, Tricia Small, Mitch Rosander, Dave Baez_Photos by Kenny Johnston |
By Joe Straw
“But what if we get something like this?’ Eli Torres, NYPD
In a fraction of a second the tables are turned. They thought this was an open and shut case. Now the door is so wide open because the phrase “like this”. And this starts setting off a chain of events unnecessarily planting a nasty little seed in everyone. “Like this?”, “like this”, “like this” repeatedly ringing in their ears loudly like the church bells in San German, Puerto Rico, coming from both ends of the courtyard, clanging “like this?”, “like this”…like…. - narrator
Eli Torres (Dave Baez) NYPD from Puerto Rico appears to be one of the good guys. Oh, there was the one time when he went off the handle and beat this guy so severely that, well it’s better left unsaid. But it’s been four years and that’s all behind him now. Not in any kind of order but, he’s turned his life around, devoted to his mother, found God, and divorced his wife.
The world premiere of The Witness Room by Pedro Antonio Garcia and directed by Bryan Rasmussen is now playing at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks through April 27, 2024.
Today Eli was brought together in a room with his fellow NYPD officers Sampson (Moe Irvin), TJ Moretti (Louie Liberti) and Kevin Brennan (Mitch Rosander) by Andrea Volpi (Tricia Small) a prosecutor to go over a case involving a drug bust which will determine what evidence will be suppressed when they go to trial. And it’s going to be tough because they are up against Suarez (not seen) who is a take no prisoner defense attorney.
So, steps away from the courtroom, stuck in an office, everyone must get their story straight. They all must be on the same page. There can’t be any mistakes made when the prosecuting attorney takes them into the courtroom. There’s a lot at stake with the city, lawsuits, and previous convictions.
But, “like this”, it’s just not the case.
Volpi tells them she won’t need everyone but when Volpi comes back into the room with the disastrous testimony of officer TJ Moretti things are not looking good.
“When I object to his questions, don’t f**king answer.” – Volpi
Volpi comes across as Matilda the Hun (a distant relative to Attila) or Superwoman because she likes winning at all costs. For her to do this she must get the others prepared to say what she needs them to say and laying into TJ Moretti is her first order of business.
“Well now you’ve screwed up your testimony because you keep tripping over your d*ck.” – Volpi
It’s true TJ had a rough outing, going a little overboard and almost “wetting” himself on the witness stand.
But now things are getting serious because Volpi says that Suarez and his connection to the Latino politicians are trying to set up crooked police officers that are “manufacturing reasons to illegally break into apartments of innocent people.”
The stakes for Volpi to win this case is critical. If the evidence is suppressed the case will be thrown out. And if they lose, and are sued, they can only guess what it will do to their careers. All in all, the outcome is not looking promising.
But Eli’s not falling in line. He may not be called into today’s hearing but if he is called out, he will speak the truth as he knows it, and this is not sitting well with the others.
All the characters have a lot to lose in Pedro Antonio Garcia’s outstanding play. Sampson, a narcotics cop, a man that flies off the handle, is looking to move up to detective but needs to achieve despite the personal garbage he carries with his past. TJ Moretti is biding his time on the force, once a detective demoted to essentially a traffic cop, and now has zero credibility. Kevin has had a dubious alcoholic past and lacks integrity. And the one person that all are looking up to has some doubts about the arrest. The ending is curious as to who eventually has the advantage the attorney or the police office. The dialogue is smooth, a listening party, sometimes nasty, often shady, and lots of fun.
Bryan Rasmussen, director, has an unusual visual style keeping his performers comfortable in their space. TJ downstage right, Terrence Sampson upstage right, Andrea Volpi center stage, Kevin Brennan upstage left and Eli Torres downstage center. At times the performers gather around the table as though it were the last supper with Volpi being Jesus. Rasmussen gets solid performances from the actors, the moments hit hard and strong, and the play flows magnificently. That said, the gun needs to find a better way to work in the scene, one that feels comfortable to all. Now it strains credulity in the hands of a people in desperation mode and finally in the hands of an experienced police officer who is either completely emotionally disconnected, or purposefully knows exactly what he is doing to get his way.
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| Dave Baez and Tricia Small |
Tricia Small is smart, focused, and really pays attention to details as Volpi. She holds her own in a room full of men, scraping for every advantage she can get, understanding the exigency of the day’s outcome. But is Volpi an attorney you can trust? And how can she be sure Torres will come through? This is a wonderful performance and one that will live on in the audience that have seen it and ones that will witness it.
Something is pushing Dave Baez as Eli Torres to do what he does. Currently, he is emotionally unstable. His mother, receiving his undying love, is an addict and is a sore spot in his being. He is also showing signs of addiction, taking Valium. The woman now his ex-wife is fighting him for custody of their nine-year-old daughter, she is thinking of moving back to Puerto Rico, and the prosecuting attorney is on him to protect the livelihood of her and the three other officers. But there’s this little thing in his work called truth that stands in the way. There is a lot of pain here to overcome and to express onstage and although Baez is physically excellent in the role there may be more in his quietism to add to get to the point of the gun that needs exploration. One would like to see a little bit of ambiguity in his final decision that sends every one out of the meeting room in various stages mental anguish.
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| L - R _Louie Liberti, Moe Irvin, Mitch Rosander |
Moe Irvin has a pleasant demeanor on stage as Terrence Sampson a go along, get along attitude but he really knows how to push other people’s buttons. He’s got a lot of baggage to overcome, his military service (dishonorable discharge, and civil complaints) so he’s no saint. Possibly a lot of incidents against him may be race related. Although he wants to become a detective, he doesn’t move in that direction. He arrives to court wearing a Knicks jersey, tennis shoes, and packing his service firearm. He may not be dressing for success and that may be part of the character. But one thinks a better choice would be to move in that direction of his soon to be promotion, be smarter, faster, quicker than the others, more intact because the stakes for him become higher when he is fighting for a better position in life.
Louie Liberti has a lot to lose as TJ Moretti. He may be moving toward the end of his career and on the force if the event of the outcome is not favorable. His demotion is a despairing reflection that he is hanging on by a thread and it has caused him to be unsure in the ways he moves about life. He still hangs on to his detective wear, a coat and tie, possibly with the hope of seeing another light of day. Moretti still has his pride, and he is counting on others to help him get through to retirement. Moretti may not be the smartest in the room but those thinking moments give Liberti a lot of good work in his performance and a lot of things to think about while he is negotiation the room.
Mitch Rosander has got a very good look as the Irish cop Kevin Brennan, looking more like an undercover cop, wearing a skull cap, and a swizzle stick hanging from his mouth. He is fighting his addiction to alcohol and could possibly be the reason he is staying on the straight and narrow. They call him the professor because he knows the ins and outs of everything. Unfortunately, he’s run into trouble with garnished wages for child support. (That’s not good.) And he’s been known to stray from the truth and that has got him into a lot of trouble. He also doesn’t buy anyone drinks. Kevin has lost his faith and questions why anyone who believes would go against the blue code. Rosander does a good job in the role, always questioning but must use his wiles to affect a greater change whether it happens or not.
Run! Run! Run!
Other members of the crew are as follows:
Jeff G. Rack – Set Design
Derrick McDaniel – Lighting Design
Mitch Rosander – Sound Design & Production Manager
Laura Tiefer – Costume Design
Banzai Vitale – Fight Choreography
Michele King – Graphic Design
Nora Feldman – Publicist
Victoria Hoffman – Casting Director
Tickets: whitefiretheatre.com
Whitefire Theatre
13500 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA. 91423