No Country for Old Warthogs

Schwartz, Gaspard, and Ballard: Wait a minute. Who are you supposed to be now?

Details

Tall Grass Written by Brian Harris. Directed by Kim St. Leon. With Jim Ballard, Reiss Gaspard, and Stacy Schwartz. Presented through February 17 at Inside Out Theatre, 1 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. Call 954-385-3060, or visit www.insideouttheatre.org.

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More About

• Brian Harris
• Stacy Schwartz
• Reiss Gaspard
• Nature and the Environment
• Wildlife

The physical comedy, and there's a lot, creates a nice bed for the dirty work that Harris means to do and that director St. Leon probably delights in. Watching her work, one gets the feeling that St. Leon would be just as happy directing horror movies: mystery, gloomy atmospheres, sustained dissonances, and sudden bloody developments are her strongest suits, and her touch can improve even a great play (theaterfolk should remember how she turned Brian Friel's great drama The Faith Healer into an otherworldly terror). Here, she makes the soft bits very soft, savoring the contrasts with the hideous developments that arise in the script, looking for maximum impact and finding it.

Apart from their considerable fun factor, there is probably great meaning in those hideous developments, and it's worth talking about. I wish I could do so here, but it would be a cheat. We'd like the tall grass to remain tall for as long as it likes.