Images: 
Total Rating: 
***
Previews: 
February 14, 2013
Opened: 
February 15, 2013
Ended: 
March 24, 2013
Country: 
USA
State: 
California
City: 
Los Angeles
Company/Producers: 
City Garage
Theater Type: 
Regional
Theater: 
City Garage
Theater Address: 
2525 Michigan Avenue, Bergamot Station
Phone: 
310-453-9939
Website: 
citygarage.org
Running Time: 
990 min
Genre: 
Drama
Author: 
Charles A. Duncombe
Director: 
Frederique Michel
Review: 

Caged is based on a bold and clever conceit: have the two animals sharing an exhibit in an unnamed zoo played by human beings -- naked human beings, at that (Megan Kim and RJ Jones). As they prowl their confines, bored, eating, stretching, yawning, bumping chests, two white-jacketed keepers (Katrina Nelson, Leah Harf) watch them from exalted perches and comment on their behavior in non-stop psychobabble fashion.

The conceit is further expanded when various spectators begin to visit the exhibit. Identified only as Mommie, The Curious Girl, The Wife, The Older Woman and so on, they come to gape at the captured "homo sapiens," toss food at them, wonder about them, jeer at them.

They also argue and bare their souls in front of these supposedly dumb, inferior creatures. All kinds of secrets and shortcomings are revealed, such as infidelity, lust, homosexual longings, dishonesty and greed.

Before long, the play's deeper meaning becomes obvious: it's the human race that's on display here. Imprisoned by our petty, flawed needs and self-deceptions, we are the real caged ones, not the animals behind bars.

Sharply written, acted and directed, Charles A. Duncombe's play is a chilling metaphor for the human condition.

Cast: 
Megan Kim, RJ Jones, Katrina Nelson, Leah Harf, Mariko Oka, Heather Pasternak, Kristina Drager, Justin Davanzo, Nathan Dana Aldrich, David E. Frank, Erol Dolen; (Understudy, Anthony Pavelich).
Technical: 
Set/Lighting: Charles A. Duncombe; Costumes: Josephine Poinsat; PR: Jerry Charlson; Lighting/Sound: Anthony Pavelich.
Critic: 
Willard Manus
Date Reviewed: 
February 2013