By Ernest Kearney — There’s nothing quite like a show that sets me and my wife Marlene to arguing. We don’t often argue about plays we’ve
seen. We have other topics that tend to get our discussions a bit heated. * 
*
But playwright/performer Joshua Thomas’ Let There Be Thistles got us going.
Marlene thinks Thomas’ character is an unhinged lunatic confined in an asylum somewhere.
I think he’s God.
And maybe we’re both right.
Director, Branda Lock (HFF2018)
Because when you look about at the present state of the world, the only conclusion about “God” one can possibly reach, if there is an “infinite father,” is that he’s gone off his meds.
One thing upon which we didn’t argue was the tour-de-force performance by Thomas as the “Madman/God” ruminating on creation, desperate for a second chance.
One feels at times that Thomas’ character is trapped in the stark, dark room in which we find him.
At other times it feels as if he’s afraid of leaving the security of his cell, which is understandable when you take into account what happened to his son: Three nails and suddenly he’s a piece of jewelry.
Thomas’ character tries to relive and improve upon Genesis; refashioning a new man, and calling out periodically, “Let there be cheesecake!”
But the old omnipotence is gone. So, he sits about recalling past glories: “Lambs – fluffy and juicy at the same time. Genius!”
There is a definite shade of Beckett to Thomas’ concept, so much so that at times you can’t help but wonder if somewhere by a road with a limp tree nearby, there aren’t two tramps anxiously awaiting his arrival.
But this show is too good to let go of.
Thomas was last at the Fringe in 2014 with Angels and Whiskey, I hope he doesn’t stay away that long again, because he and director Branda Lock have crafted a true gem that deserves the first PLATINUM MEDAL of this Fringe.
(* * Author’s Note: Capital punishment (she’s for/I’m against), the movie Locke (she’s hates/I love), the value of the “double standard” (guess), whether Anais Nin was an airhead or not (guess again), and if the opportunity ever came to have dinner with Rasputin (She’d go off with the “mad monk” to find a hay stack and I’d be left eating the cakes with the potassium cyanide icing.)
♦ ♦ ♦
Let There Be Thistles
Is Playing During the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2018
at
Studio C
6448 Santa Monica Blvd.
For Complete Show Information, Tickets and Reservations Go To:
What is the Hollywood Fringe Festival? Click HERE to learn more.
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