‘Nomad Motel’ explores family, inclusion and understanding

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

We’ve recently had a number of “we are the world” plays, in the spirit of those lawn signs welcoming all ethnicities and religions. Some were written or conceived before our recent civic divisions grew so intense. But surely their being staged now is in part a response to the current counter spirit of division and hate abroad in the land.

But hasn’t theater always claimed to celebrate self-recognition, to the point of inclusiveness? Come to think of it, a play just staged at the Public Theater says, with considerable authority, that theater ought “to hold, as ’twere, the mirror up to nature” — to discover, describe and celebrate who we are, and to warn us as well.

Carla Ching’s “Nomad Motel,” now having its world premiere at City Theatre, certainly does that, and in the most familiar arena of all in American theater, the family. But it engages us in a fresh way, so the recognition creeps up, culminating (for this father and grandfather, anyway) in an ultimate exchangeabout the tribulations of parenthood that struck a huge chord with the opening nightaudience.

However, “Nomad Motel” is not primarily about the parents,no matter what they may think. That’s part of what’s fresh. It shows us three teenagers, variously sympathetic and frightening (according to your age and point of view), who have to deal with parents whoare overcontrolling or absentand sometimes both.

The young people mix ethnicities,which also fits our national self-recognition. But what feels freshest is the skillful way the play reveals itself. This is Orange County, Calif., the all-American melting pot with the ironic juxtaposition of abandoned strip malls and Disneyland. From the title we realize that one room of Gianni Downs’ clever fourarea set is a motel. But what is the other room? And who are thesedisconnected people?

So we have to piece it together, which engages us from the start. We meet Mason (Christopher Larkin), who’s Japanese, alone and wordless, laying down overlapping guitar tracks, a tune that accumulates and complicates itself — not a bad metaphor for the play.

Meanwhile Alix (Katie Lynn Esswein) has a frantic mother and two younger brothers to care for while she juggles school and a college application. Her friend Oscar (Shahine Ezell) contributes electric but unpredictable energy. Mason’s frightening father (Nelson Lee) dials in from afar, and Alix’s frantic mother (Lisa Velten Smith) guiltily tries to keep several balls in the air.

Another, perhaps overly obvious metaphor, is the injured bird Mason and Alix nurture back to possible health. Scrappy places to live, fear of the police, the rich-or-poor economy and wayward parents are their obstacles. Speaking of “Hamlet,” the controlling parental advice brings Polonius to mind. And the debate over foil, saber or staff? — yes, “Nomad Motel” also has fight choreography by the indispensible Randy Kovitz.

The five actors believably pull us into their story. The parents do a great deal with relativelylittle, and Mr. Ezell’s Oscar is a gem of comic/sad support. But the play depends on Mr. Larkin and Ms. Esswein. I found her hard to understand vocally, but less so over time, and she ably combines vulnerable and tough. Mr.Larkin is luminous.

Maybe the kids are too competent and maybe some of the play is too pat, but it never preaches. In its mirror we see a warning as well a wry comedy about inclusion and understanding. And its ending— well, I can’t tell you. Which is the point of the ending, in fact.

“Nomad Motel” comes here as a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, meaning it will go on to theaters in Georgia and Missouri, and an Off-Broadway slot is already assured. But its birth coincidentally owes much to City Theatre’s longtime former artistic director, Marc Masterson, who commissioned it at South Coast Rep in Orange County. That adds up to a kind of cross-country homecoming, appropriate to a play struggling with the painful necessities of family.