Underbelly Cowgate
1st – 25th August (14.20)

Script:   Stagecraft:   Performance:

Danny and Julia have a ruptured marriage with a child in the middle. Danny has to move to a trashy apartment near the freeway and life keeps going downhill hill for him. He truly loves his daughter, but every attempt to be closer to her seems to push his old life further away. Life is not any better for Julia, who does things she doesn’t want to in order to maintain her adderall habit. All this set under the suffocating rains of Phoenix’s Monsoon Season.

Richard Thieriot brings brilliant comedic delivery in his portrayal of Danny. His cringeworthy attempts to be a good dad reminded me of George Costanza in Seinfeld, with a more psychotic edge. Therese Plaehn is very convincing as a trashy and selfish Julia, trapped in a cage of her bad decisions. I really enjoyed the thunder-storming, nightmarish atmosphere of the play and the deeply dark humor.

The show made me wonder how I might react if I found myself in a life out of control? I would hope not to damage other people, as Danny and Julia do in Monsoon Season, but I can’t really judge them for doing what they thought was right at the time. I think if I find myself in a bad situation, I will remember Danny and Julia and try to not be like them, I will try to be patient and wait for the Monsoon Season to end.

Michael Beeson