School Shooter: A Good Gal?

The world premiere of playwright David Rambo’s A Good Guy is a high caliber drama that puts the phenomenon of school shootings in the crosshairs and hits a bullseye. This one-act tour de force is in the finest tradition of plays such as One Night in Miami… mounted in 2013 by Rogue Machine, which like a Napoleon of the theater, endlessly pushes boundaries. To avoid disclosing plot spoilers, this reviewer is going to tread as lightly as possible in revealing Rambo’s meticulously constructed plot, but certain details must be discussed here.

A Good Guy zeroes in on Anna (the flawless Evangeline Edwards), a middle school math teacher somewhere in her late twenties/early to mid-thirties, whose biggest passion in life is her chosen vocation as an educator. She lets us know this right from the get-go in the first scene, when she rhapsodizes about her childhood memories regarding Ms. Wizner (one of several roles expertly essayed by Suzen Baraka), one of those school teachers who leaves a lasting, indelible impression on her pupils (with a name that refers to “wisdom”?).

Anna’s soldier husband Michael (Wayne T. Carr, who also plays multiple parts) is deployed overseas to a combat zone and has insisted that his wife keep a firearm at their isolated home out in the countryside. Because conditions–drug use, social media, et al.–at the junior high where she teaches have deteriorated over the years, and incidents of school shootings have spread nationwide, Anna packs heat in order to protect herself and her students while in the classroom.

Inevitably, an active shooter invades the sanctity of the school and opens fire. Although the incident is described when the Detective (coolly depicted by the versatile Carr, with Baraka) interrogates Anna, the bloodbath itself is not shown (which may have been quite triggering–literally–for audiences in the diminutive space of Rogue Machine’s Henry Murray Stage). Rather than going full Rambo and dwelling on graphic gunplay like say Stallone the Vietnam War draft dodger might have, Rambo’s play focuses on the emotional aftermath and consequences of the school shooting.

This includes a high-powered attorney (played by the chameleon-like Baraka) for an NRA-type of organization lying her way into Anna’s secluded household. A Good Guy’s title is derived from a famous saying by the National Rifle Association’s former top gunslinger, the corrupt Wayne LaPierre, who was taken down in a court case by the same Attorney General who has bested Trump. There is also a flashback to the tearful return of Michael from his deployment abroad, finally coming home as a veteran shattered by warfare, only to leave his devastated wife all alone yet again to become a mercenary.

With stage and little screen writing/producing credits galore, including TV’s CSI franchise, Rambo has an intricate, exquisite sense of plotting, with the elegance of physics (hey, this is a show about a math teacher!). There are no loose ends in A Good Guy, everything and everybody is mentioned for good reason in this tightly scripted 70-ish minute play performed without intermission. The play is also tautly directed by veteran helmer John Perrin Flynn, who elicits engaging, convincing performances from his gifted cast. Scenic designer Jan Munroe’s set also enhances an ambiance of realism.

As the protagonist, Evangeline Edwards—who previously co-starred in Rogue’s Heroes of the Fourth Turning—is pitch perfect as Anna, never missing a note in creating a completely believable character. One way to look at A Good Guy is that it’s a story about a woman who becomes besieged on every front—professional, marital, etc.—and has only one thing going for her, which is what saves her. When the awards are given out, if there’s any justice in this cockamamie world of ours, Evangeline shall be showered with the accolades she richly deserves for one of the most finely etched, moving portrayals I’ve ever seen on the L.A. boards.

The shapeshifting Carr and Baraka likewise excel, as they seamlessly morph from one character to another. The talented Logan Leonardo Arditty (who recently costarred in

Rogue’s Monsters of the American Cinema) seemingly shows up from out of the blue–but as I’ve already indicated, Rambo is such a skilled scribe who doesn’t miss a beat, his entering stage left was as inevitable as it is welcome that this sort of deus ex machina makes the scene. In doing so Logan bestows a sense of grace and redemption upon this upsetting production.

The range of this cast’s acting abilities made this scribbler marvel at the aptitude of these thespians in creating personas, protagonists, antagonists and characters plucked out of seemingly thin air–and imagination– ided by the invisible hand of a master director. How do they do it? I know I never could, which I guess is a big reason why I keep returning to the stage and screen to admire those who apparently effortlessly do what I never could.

Regarding Rambo’s writing, I’ve been stressing his adeptness in terms of plot, and he has an ear for dialogue. But more importantly, A Good Guy is full of astute philosophical musing, making it grist for Rogue Machine’s mill. From Michael’s deployment fighting yet another one of Washington’s imperialist endless wars to the school shooter vogue to the NRA, this gun-obsessed society is tragically troubled by its culture of violence. As Flynn points out in the program’s director’s note, “gun violence is the leading cause of death in children in the United States.” Is anybody really surprised that a nonstop spewer of hate is subjected to two assassination attempts in as many months? Blowback – like karma – is a bitch, and the third time may be the harm.

Rambo raises troubling questions about America and its penchant for violence—even our national anthem, with “bombs bursting in air,” is full of violent imagery. But while the thought-provoking bard makes us ask hard questions, Rambo doesn’t necessarily tell us what or how to think. Is Anna “a good gal”? See the play and decide for yourself.

Although A Good Guy doesn’t depict gruesome violence per se onstage, this is not a play for children or those easily upset. It is, however, a drama for serious theatergoers, I suppose of junior high age and up, for ticket buyers who love superb writing and stellar acting, and those interested in the trend of active shooters which bedevils America, plus philosophical ruminations that are, well, right on target in the land of the fearful, home of the violent. Let’s hope that like One Night in Miami… this deserving work has an afterlife on stage and screen.

Rogue Machine’s A Good Guy is being performed 8:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays (no performance on Friday, September 20); 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays; and 7:00 p.m. on Sundays through October 13 at the Matrix Theatre upstairs in The Henry Murray Stage, 7657 Melrose Avenue, L.A., California, 90048. For reservations, call ​(855)585-5185 or here.

ALOHA OE (farewell to thee), James Earl Jones, truly one of the greats. When I was a little boy, my father took me to see The Great White Hope on the Great White Way and Jones’ electrifying depiction of the first Black heavyweight champion remains the best performance I’ve ever seen on the live stage. May the force be with you, James!