Linda Vista Graces The Mark Taper Forum with Stellar Performances

Tracy Letts latest play Linda Vista is now in performances at The Mark Taper Forum now through February 17, 2019.

Linda Vista first debuted at Chicago’s famous Steppenwolf Theater and is on a limited run here in Los Angeles, so be sure to grab a ticket before it’s gone. The play is Directed by Dexter Bullard and stars Ian Barford, Tim Hopper, Sally Murpy, Chantal Thuy, Cora Vander Broek, Corline Neff, and Troy West. This stellar cast adds a gritty layer of dark humor to Tracy’s depricating look at life’s middle age upheavals.

Linda Vista opens with Wheeler (Ian Barford) moving into a modest apartment with the help of his good friend Paul (Tim Hopper) after a messy divorce. What follows the characters is the series of questionable decisions, bad judgement calls, and what the selfishness of settling can do to a person. It’s easy to see the shaky judgements parallel with today’s society here in the real world. It is impossible not to relate.

Ian Barford has now originated four roles with playwright Tracy Letts, including August Osage County, which he continued on Broadway. A quick question with Ian on how he felt about the material when he first read the play revealed: “I immediately recognized how alive and contemporary and dynamic the dialogue was.” He said. “One of Tracy’s great gifts as a playwright is his ability to write distinct characters —- individuals with their own history and dimension often quite apart from his own. I was amazed to see that Tracy allowed his own voice to come through so directly in Wheeler. The rants on politics, music, culture, etc. are definitely autobiographical.

To end this review we give the play five out of five stars. Its realism will entrance you. You might find yourself having a moment of introspection if you let yourself succumb to the dialogue. Don’t miss out on your chance to see Linda Vista before it’s gone.