Determined - An Intimate Evening of Influence and Prophecy


Determined - An Intimate Evening of Influence and Prophecy
written, produced and performed by Kent Axell
At the LATEA Theater

Kent Axell bills himself as a mentalist, a mind-reader and a liar. His show Determined is a remarkable collection of sleights-of-hand, a series of superb tricks couched in theatricality.

Much of the material shows his powers of clairvoyance. The evening I attended, at the top of the show, Axell instructed a fellow in the audience yell to yell “Stop!” during the show at whatever time he chose. Then Axell set a clock and placed it in a large envelope. Our audience member yelled “Stop!” at 8:42. Nothing extraordinary so far. But at the end of the show Axell took the clock out of envelope and showed us that he had set it at 8:42. Great!

Much of the show, in fact, was reviewed at the end. At the beginning of the show he showed us a scroll that he placed in a box that was lifted up to the flies. At the end of the show he unrolled it and we could see that it recorded what went on during the show. The woman in the audience had told us she went sky-diving. Another fellow had imagined a pair of dice that registered 6 and 11. The woman brought on stage had dark hair and was wearing a red dress. It was very impressive.

His final and best trick was a sort of Russian roulette managed by an audience member. He placed a six-inch spike driven through a block of wood in a paper bag, and places just a block of wood in three others. A woman from the audience chose three bags, one by one, and he slammed his hand into each, risking, as far as we could see, impaling himself. The remaining bag, of course, was the bag with the spike. The idea was that he knew she’d choose the safe bags. Pretty intense…

Mentalist shows can have different tones, and Axell’s has the tone of a terrific, down-to-earth party. But he could benefit from wearing a microphone to enhance his presence. Still, Determined is a great show!
Steve Capra
September 2015

Popular posts from this blog

Anouilh's Antigone

There is a moment in Fusion Theatre’s production of Jean Anouilh’s Antigone (at Theatre Row’s Studio Theatre) when Creon says to Antigone “Don’t annihilate me with those eyes.” And indeed, Antigone’s unrelenting stare does seem to be annihilating him, as it’s been annihilating everyone. As Antigone, Eilin O’Dea motivates Creon’s line so well that it seems Anouilh has written it in response to the actress. Anouilh’s play, as this production makes clear, is an important drama. Anouilh reworked Sophocles’ play keeping the ancient Greek names and keeping the action in Thebes. The characters, however, mention tobacco, blood tests, film and cars. The dissonance reminds us that Anouilh’s message of courage and moral responsibility is ageless. Anouilh has created a raisonneur in a character called simply The Chorus. Tragedy, he tells us, “has nothing to do with melodrama”. “In tragedy, argument is gratuitous,” he says, but this is a very strange line; Antigone and Creon will soo...
Read more

C.S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Convert

C.S. Lewis lived between 1898 and 1963. He’s best known for his works of fiction such as The Screwtape Letters and The Chronicles of Narnia , although his non-fiction work is arguably more important. He ranks among the foremost 20 th -century Christian apologists and theologians. Max McLean has written a terrific solo show in which he presents Lewis in his study at Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1950, C.S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Convert . Mr. MacLean is the show’s actor, and he’s co-directed it with Ken Denison. The script details Lewis’ conversion from atheism to Christianity, delineating the transformation in discrete steps. Lewis begins with his childhood in Belfast: “Mother’s death produced in me a deeply engrained pessimism,” he tells us. And “At 13 I ceased to be a Christian. At that age one scarcely notices.” He was confirmed in The Church of Ireland “in total disbelief.” The script presents us with the structure of Lewis’ life – his time at Oxford, his enli...
Read more

A Blanket of Dust

Image
Photo by Sharon Kinsella In Richard Squires’ play A Blanket of Dust, presented at The Flea Theater by Delphi Film in association with Alfonso Ramos and Eve Pomerance, a woman, Diane, looses her husband in the 9-11 disaster. She’s convinced that the government is responsible for the catastrophe, and campaigns to uncover the conspiracy. She’s a Senator’s daughter, so the issue becomes a family affair. Years later, she becomes involved with Andrew, a book store owner active in the dissident movement. Andrew is also at odds with his parents on political issues (his father is in government but it’s not clear what his position is.) In frustration, Andrew commits suicide - he sets fire to himself - in protest. This is all pretty grim, but, well, it’s a grim world, and it’s good to see issue- committed theater.   Mr. Squires’ keeps his script as lean as the WTC towers. The characters have no identity aside from their attitudes toward the issue, aside from the sketchy romance. ...
Read more