‘Extinction’ an affecting story fairly well told

Sunday, August 15, 2010
By Jennifer Chung Klam
Special to the San Diego Union-Tribune
THEATER REVIEW

DETAILS
“Song of Extinction”

• Ion Theatre Company
• When: Thursdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 4 p.m., through Sept. 4
• Where: BLKBOX, 3704 Sixth Ave., Hillcrest
• Tickets: $10-$25
• Phone: (619) 600-5020
• Online: iontheatre.com

“Extinction is a very messy business,” says biology teacher Khim Phan. He knows from firsthand experience, having lost his family and 2 million countrymen in the killing fields of Cambodia.

E.M. Lewis’ “Song of Extinction” interweaves the genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge with the imminent extinction of a rare insect and a son’s grief over his mother’s terminal cancer. Lewis’ 2008 play is a lyrical, metaphor-laden meditation on family, loss, hope and new beginnings. Despite uneven acting and some technical issues, the San Diego premiere at Ion Theatre is a quietly affecting piece. 

The story revolves around three men dealing with extinction in their own way. When Phan (Diep Huynh) teaches his students the chapter on extinction, it reminds him of his family, country and history. “Maybe I teach them about Cambodia without saying its name,” he muses.

Huynh marks a welcomed return to the stage after a three-year hiatus. Though playing a much older character, Huynh is grounded, sturdy and wise as he delivers some of the play’s most poignant and humorous lines about extinction and teaching.

An expert in extinction, Phan helps his student Max (Matthew Alexander) through the pain of losing his mother (Robin Christ), and also aids the mother on her final journey.

Max’s father (Tom Hall), a biologist fighting to save a patch of Bolivian rain forest that’s home to a rare beetle, is so preoccupied with his work that he hardly notices his son’s despair.

Alexander brings teen angst, anger and resentment to his role as Max, whose pain is as palpable as his facade of apathy.

Hall obsesses as the biologist who cannot save his wife and instead focuses on saving an insect, while Christ wholly embodies the dying wife who has a broken body and sharp mind.

Yet Hall and Christ seem oddly matched as the scientific couple, and their lack of chemistry is most apparent in their few scenes of tenderness.

A series of curtains and movable panels helps shift locales between home, school and hospital. Scene changes often require moving set pieces, such as the hospital bed, and can make interludes feel lengthy, especially since the scenes are so short. Lighting by Karin Filijan tends to run dim, darkening the tone more than is warranted.

After all, “Song of Extinction” is not really a story of death and destruction, but rather hope and renewal. The play tells a complex story in a simple way, through vignettes, brief monologues and dream sequences. The result, under Claudio Raygoza’s direction, is a ruminative, poetic production that underscores the fragility and interconnectedness of life. Playwright Lewis ultimately presents an argument for nurturing relationships and social involvement.