Deviation Actions
HIGH DRAMA IN THE HIGH DESERT by GWYNEDD STUART
Inland Empress is a powerful female story first and a crime drama second
Although we never see far beyond the cozy confines of a modest home’s dated living room, it’s apparent within the first few minutes of local playwright Tom Cavanaugh’s Inland Empress that the greater environment in which the home exists is hugely impactful in the lives of its denizens. On a horse farm somewhere in the farthest reaches of Southern California’s remote Inland Empire, we meet a family of women – mother, June (Monica Martin) and daughters Kayla (the terrific Alexa Yeames), Jolie Beth (Di Koob) and Sierra (McCready Baker) – who’ve adapted to their harsh environment in different ways but who’ve all been drawn into a home-fried criminal enterprise that keeps them afloat. However, some are sinking faster than others.
The status quo, however tenuous is thrown into a tailspin when Louise (Lily Knight) – June’s sister, the girls’ aunt and the former chief officer of their “business” – arrives home after a seven year prison stint. In her absence, Sierra, the most ruthless and definitely the most dangerous of the sisters, has taken the reins, and she isn’t eager to relinquish control. But Louise hasn’t returned to reclaim her spot at the top; she found Allah in prison and wants to help her sister and nieces free themselves from the cycle of crime as well as the grip of kingpin Butchy (yes, there’s a fox in the henhouse).
If the women are reluctant to turn their backs on a “good” thing, they’re even more reluctant to take Louise at her word. But who could blame them when she made them what they are to begin with?
Inland Empress could be received as a hard-boiled crime drama with a mostly female cast, but really it’s a powerful story of female relationships with crime-drama window dressing. When it comes to dropping bombs, Cavanaugh pulls no punches, but strong performances by the women – Knight in particular – prevent it from devolving into melodrama.
For a small black-box theater, the set design is terrifically evocative. Old table lamps affixed to the walls look silly at first but wind up casting the set in a soft, yellowish glow evocative of a room where lots of cigarettes have been smoked over the years. It feels as honest as the story itself, which builds to the conclusion that there are only two ways out of it all – and neither leads to a happy ending.
INLAND EMPRESS
The Lounge Theatre 323-960-7787 plays411.net/empress
6201 Santa Monica Blvd.
Hollywood, CA
