By Bryan Stubbles
Cold Storage at the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah provides mystery with sci-fi amidst familial relationships! The play is penned by Jesse Nepovida, directed by Haley McCormack Jenkins, and produced by Wasatch Theatre Company.
The play’s story is pretty straightforward. A father (Jim Martin) has an emotional farewell with his son (Carlos Nobleza Posas) who will go away for five years. Another scene follows this, featuring a wife (Liza Tomkinson) washing her husband (Jay C. Stoddard) with a rag. He, too, will go away for five years. We learn he has some form of cancer and that he’ll be going into some form of cold storage. Another scene follows featuring the wife drinking herself into oblivion as well as her mother-in-law (Vicki Pugmire) trying to save her from her loneliness. There are some plot twists I won’t give away in the review.
The direction is good, especially in the interactions and signs of affection between the characters. Stage management by Isabel Crews works wonders with the tiny stage space available. Having the actors sit in chairs upstage facing away from the audience when their character isn’t in the scene is a creative solution to the problem of lacking a backstage.
All of the actors deliver their roles well. Posas delivers a very believable performance as the son, and Tomkinson portrays a very believable wife and displays an extreme array of emotions. Bravo! Renowned theatre director and choreographer Nicole Perry was my guest for this show and she also commented on how well all the actors did.
A part of one scene is delivered in Spanish. I understood it, but even non-Spanish speakers will understand the exchange based on context. Honestly, it was refreshing to hear.
The presentation feels very post-modern, as if we were cutting in and out of people’s lives. Wasatch Theatre Company developed this play as part of their Page-to-Stage program.
Cold Storage isn’t entirely family-friendly, as there is some profanity. Its rating is probably equivalent to PG-13 or very light R. Despite the mysterious sci-fi nature of the piece, love seems to be the overarching theme—love between father and son, between husband and wife, and even between in-laws. This play does a great job of hammering that theme home. It’s playing for two more weeks, so come take a look if you get the chance!
Wasatch Theatre Company presents Cold Storage by Jess Nepovida at Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival.
124 S 400 W Salt Lake City, UT 84101
August 2-4, 8-9, 11, 2019, showtimes vary (check festival site for details)
Tickets: $10 + $5 festival entrance stamp.
Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival 2019 Website
Wasatch Theatre Company Facebook Page
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