THE HANGOVER REPORT – Ryan Spahn’s intimately and immersively staged INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS juggles genres, mostly successfully

Dana Scurlock and Jack Difalco in Out of the Box Theatrics’ production of “Inspired by True Events” by Ryan Spahn at Theatre 154 (photo by Thomas Brunot).

This past week, I had the opportunity to take in Out of the Box Theatrics’ Off-Broadway production of Inspired by True Events by Ryan Spahn. Staged at the former New Ohio Theatre space in the West Village, the production follows in the footsteps of previous Out of the Box Theatrics offerings, namely with respect to director Knud Adams’ exceedingly immersive and intimate staging. Set at a scrappy community theater in Rochester, NY, Spahn’s new play is in essence a psychological thriller that takes place before, during, and after a performance of a play.

What’s fascinating about the piece is how adamant the playwright is in simultaneously pursuing multiple genres — Inspired by True Events is in equal measure a melodramatic love letter to the theater and a knockoff episode of True Crime. It’s a true juggling act, and Spahn mostly succeeds at it (he’s more successfully in the former pursuit). In both regards, however, the play — which skillfully unfolds in real time over the course of 90 intermission-less minutes — could benefit from more nuanced character development and psychological depth. Nevertheless, the ensemble cast does an excellent job of calibrating their performances to the intimacy of the space and mining as much drama (and comedy) as possible from the relatively predictable script.

If you couldn’t tell already, the real star of the show is Knud’s innovative, highly detailed staging, which — like the play’s setting — literally takes place in a real life dressing room (complete with working bathroom and mini-kitchen!). Indeed, from an audience perspective, one truly feels like a fly on the wall. Even more intriguing is how the production actually uses the mainstage to enact the work’s play-within-a-play, even though it occurs offstage. It’s this attention to detail and level of immersion that sets Inspired by True Events apart from other summer fare currently out there.

RECOMMENDED

INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS
Off-Broadway, Play
Out of the Box Theatrics at Theatre 154
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through August 4

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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