Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

  

When coming to see a show at the Axis Company, the New York theatergoer finds himself at his wits end, as its listed address of "1 Sheridan Square" simply fails to exist on google maps. He inevitably walks in circles, punching the digits into his handheld device of choice and curses the Gods until he realizes he has to figure it out for himself and stumbles across the newest and cleanest theater south of 14th street. Ah, the irony--for said theatergoer is attempting to see Trinity 5:29, a play that chronicles the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer in a mythic portrayal of the moments before detonation of the world's first atomic bomb on July 16, 1945.

The room is silent and dark, with only the sound of radio transmissions interplaying with a chilling score of strings and piano dancing about as the audience members sit in anticipation silent anticipation. Suddenly, a flash of white light emanates from stage light, grows brighter, and a wave of blurred vision and lost concentration ensues. What lasts only a moment seems like a century. And then it is done. A soft fade comes up to reveal a bare stage with a large crate down left and what looks like the base of a satellite tower up stage right. Three actors emerge from the crate, immediately enthralled in listless conversation. One is clearly President Harry Truman, expertly costumed by designer Elisa Santiago in his infamous rounded eyeglasses and double-breasted jacket. The other three are soon to be discovered as J. Robert "Bob" Oppenheimer, Jean Tatlock, and General Groves. The actors address the fourth wall simultaneously, jumping over one-another's text until Jean crosses downstage. The focus shifts, and the action of the play begins.

Jean, typically limited to the hotel she shares with Bob, has come to the base to lend her help to discover her lover at odds with the President himself. Truman has recently come into power, and has inherited "The Conductor:" a device that is known to be able to fix the problems associated with “a bad forecast.” Bob says the device is dangerous and does not want to discuss its uses with anyone who is not a scientist while Truman is eager to use "the thing" because the situation has a "possibility of getting out of hand.” The metaphor is clear: the conductor represents the H-bomb, the forecast represents brooding political conflicts abroad. Jean gets involved in defense of Bob and is labeled a communist by the General, her only hope of salvation being to feed Bob a spoonful of condensation from the device and call it medicine. Fearing political slander, she agrees, and is stopped only seconds before by the President as he declares that the substance has an ability to kill. There is a moment of mixed emotion between the two as Bob realizes her attempted murder as he relinquishes control and agrees to test the device. None of the characters seem to understand the power of said device or what will happen when it is tested, save Bob. He has them all climb into the crate as he proclaims, "I wish I didn't know anything about this. I wish I didn't know how it worked." They climb inside and he switches a lever. The flash of white returns and all is silenced. Lights fade to blackout; the play is over.

  

The show runs about 50 minutes and features an incredibly haunting sound design by Steve Fountaine and effective lighting design by David Zeffren, reminiscent of a Terminator-esque thrill ride at Universal Studios. The play’s weaknesses, however, lie in the script and direction. Director Randy Sharp attempts to bring the Cycle Play to a modern audience with mythological representation of a historical event, but somewhere amongst dishonest choices and bad casting the truth of the piece is lost. While stunning young actress Britt Genelin brings an honesty and clear need to Jean, the age difference between her and Bob (played by Edgar Oliver) is so jarring that the idea of them as lovers starts to conjure images of something like Nabokov's Lolita--which isn't what should be happening here. While the costumes are period appropriate, the set is easy on the eyes, and the design stunning, work needs to be done on the clarity of the story and development of central conflict.