The Last of the Knotts

The sins of the father is the theme of Doug Knott's compelling solo drama, The Last of the Knotts, which has been turning up at various L.A. venues over the past few years.

Knott, a veteran performance artist, digs deep into his life in bold, unblinking fashion, resulting in a self-portrait that is both powerful and disturbing. The offspring of a weak, repressed mother and a drunken brute of a father, Knott had a childhood that was so horrible that he swore off ever becoming involved in family life again. Instead, he enjoyed the freedom and good times that bachelorhood brought, hitting the clubs, dating different women.

Then he met Caroline, a beautiful coke dealer who lived with her pet boa constrictor, and fell in love with her (and vice versa). Knotts moved in with Caroline and the snake; this comic menage a trios soon took on tragic dimensions when the supposedly infertile Caroline became pregnant. Knott then found himself in a soul-wrenching quandary over whether to become a father or not.

The Last of the Knotts’s domestic concerns are well-dramatized and performed by the play's creator, who has also been lucky in his director, Eric Trules. Having developed hundreds of solo shows in his illustrious career, Trules has been able to guide Knott with a firm, skillful hand.