Deal With the Dragon, being performed for one more weekend at the Palm Springs Cultural Center, is a one-man show written and performed by Kevin Rolston.
Having done one-person shows, I can testify that it is a labor of love, and that one’s effort doesn’t merely include remembering all the lines. No! There are a huge number of things to think about! I would recommend this show as a must-see for any acting student.
At the Palm Springs Cultural Center, we are greeted by a bare stage. A big, mysterious and delicate-looking object hanging from the ceiling and a brown high-backed stool are the only objects in an otherwise black-curtained space. Is the object hanging from the ceiling a web? An empty nest? It is weirdly beautiful and was designed by Thomas L. Valach. (While we are discussing the technical aspects of the play, we applaud the excellent lighting design of Jason Smith, which adds so much to this bare-bones show. Hats off, too, to the play’s director and developer, M. Graham Smith.)
Deal With the Dragon is being produced by TigerBear Productions, in association with the talented locals at Desert Ensemble Theatre. I got to meet and chat with the show’s producer, Jerome Gentes, who moved to Palm Springs from San Francisco about five years ago. He told me about the production being performed at The Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland—and his hopes for future stagings in New York or Los Angeles.
Back to the show itself: When the lights come up, we are a bit taken aback to see our actor silently standing without any makeup, and wearing a … umm, how do I put this, well-worn grey T-shirt, with jeans and a pair of non-descript sneakers. I’d heard Rolston was playing three roles, so I had naively expected wigs and costumes in this show, billed as a “grown-up fairy tale and a darkly camp comedy about the bargains we strike with ourselves and others in order to survive.”
As it turns out, he plays far more than three roles. Yes, he has three major roles, but Rolston also plays all the minor characters, too. One of them is the Dragon of the title, with whom you will promptly fall in love and wish he had a bigger part. He is a nasty dragon … but one you’ve got to adore. (I always fall madly in love with the dragon in every Chinese New Year parade … especially the ones with the long eyelashes.)
In one of the roles, he switches into German; his pronunciation was excellent, although it is clearly a second language for him. He also uses a couple of British accents for other characters.
The show deals with the art world. It makes a reference to Yelp reviews and “too much ADHD medication” to make sure we know this play is up to date.
An acting student would be enchanted by this actor’s extraordinary use of mime. Rolston slips easily in and out of this mode and back to acting with his voice—as easily as he switches between personalities. He has learned to act with his whole body; even his fingertips show it.
It is fairly rare to see any person produce real and spontaneous tears onstage, especially a man. It is much more remarkable to see that person, without even using a hanky to blow his nose, continue to talk and even laugh convincingly within minutes of doing that. Rolston even manages to change the color in his face. (I will never forget the first time I saw an actor do this—it was Melvyn Douglas in I Never Sang for My Father, and it flattened me.) It is especially notable when he is playing a fast-talking, recovered alcoholic/addict who has been suddenly pushed into being the lead speaker at an AA meeting, and he shares his messy and somewhat scattered horror story of hitting bottom. Then, in the next second, Ralston transforms into the head of a museum interviewing an aspiring artist. Whew.
It is bedazzling. It can be a little bit confusing at times, but it is never not interesting. Rolston has worked so hard developing these various roles, and he clearly has put his heart and soul into them. It would be interesting to know how this show has changed over the years of its presentation—and in the future, I personally would suggest MORE DRAGON … because I adore him!
Deal With the Dragon will be performed at 7:30 p.m., Thursday through Saturday; and 2 p.m., Sunday, through Sunday, June 8, at the Palm Springs Cultural Center, 2300 E. Baristo Road, in Palm Springs. Tickets are $44.20. For tickets or more information, click here.
