The fires may deter us, but we will always have real estate on our minds in Southern California, especially now. So, it is indeed timely to consider the issues that playwright Russell Brown poses in his new play, Listing. One of the most fascinating aspects of Los Angeles’ housing stock remains the number of consequential treasures that architects blessed the sprawling landscape with in the early days. In his play, Brown, the founder of FORT LA (Friends of Residential Treasures, LA) meditates on what happens when people with no historical reverence for these treasures mix with someone bent on preservation at all costs.
Brown’s play may have been inspired by the fate of one signature house called “The Kaufmann House,” designed by one of the top early modernist architects, Richard Neutra, shortly after WWII. His masterpiece suffered massive indignities when new owners embarked on several renovations. These renovations included enclosing a patio, adding floral wallpaper to the bedrooms and removing a wall for the addition of a media room. The roof lines were also altered with the addition of air-conditioning units. It took a major renovation, conducted in the early 2000s, to bring it back to its former integrity.
At Theatre Forty, the story plays out after Alice (Mouchette van Helsdingen), the owner of the fictional “Grace House,” suffers a suspicious accident and dies, leaving Raymond, (Mark Stancato), her listing agent, to find suitable new owners. Although her death takes place in the present, to help explain why these surroundings feel so sinister, flashbacks reveal the backstory of Brunner, the young architect (Bradley James Holzer) and the wife of his client (Katyanna Rocker-Cook), when the house was being built.
In what follows, though, Raymond hosts a series of open houses, introducing a procession of possible buyers, among them, a wealthy black couple (played bySherrick O’Quinn and Nakasha Norwood) with the aid of their feisty intermediary (Tamir Yardenne). Conflict occurs when Alice Grace’s son (Tack Sappington) wants to sell to the higher bidder. But, Raymond’s knowledge and love of the perfect modernist specimen, causes him to discriminate unnecessarily when choosing what he considers to be the right ones to preserve the house. He makes a choice, but the house itself may have something to do about it.
Mark Stancato as Raymond carries the play through its rather eery conclusion. But his fixation of preservation is hard to understand in this production as his surroundings are hampered by the lack of definition in Theatre Forty’s traditional box set, here painted in a weird orange and peach. That said, Theatre Forty’s coterie of theatre professionals led by artistic head, David Hunt Stafford, delivers its usual professional treatment for the production.
With Listing, Brown has written a fact-packed play that tends toward a cinematic style, as with the rather clumsy flashbacks that share the same stage as the majority of the action. At times, we’re bogged down in historical detail, and at others, we’re in the past rather than the present as the story plays out. But even with this mix of stops and starts, the subject matter is still intriguing.
Theatre Forty presents Listing, Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 2 pm through February 16, 2025, at their Beverly Hills High School location; 241 S. Moreno Dr., Beverly Hills 90212. In addition, Theatre Forty’s production, Jane Austen in 89 Minutes is also scheduled for the Greystone Mansion in January, 2025. For reservations, or subscription information, phone (310) 364-0535 or online at http://theatre40.org.
