'Everywhere, Signs Fall' scrambles heads

The difference between "why" and "how" is the razor that cleaves fate from science. In "Everywhere, Signs Fall," playwright Alan M. Berks holds this proposition at arm's length, and three actors wrestle to see whether the mysteries of coincidence can be quantified.

Berks' play, being premiered in a taut and aggressively acted production at Gremlin Theatre, seems purposely irresolute -- scattering dozens of clues through a scenario that tantalizes the intellect with its sleight of hand. Ultimately, though, he lets us slither off the hook and walk away marveling at the craft, the sheer audacity of his abilities, his cracking dialogue, yet unmoved by characters we aren't sure we know.

"Signs Fall" uses a legerdemain that has gained currency in plays such as Lee Blessing's "Body of Water" or the film "Memento." Information is spun out in fragments, scenes loop back on themselves with differing perspectives, adding slender veneers of meaning. We eagerly snatch a bread crumb here and there on the path to knowledge. The technique recalls David Lynch arguing a few years ago that emotion, memory and chaos are not linear, that they require a new vocabulary.

The facts appear to be these: Jeremy (Paul Cram) and Juliet (Tracey Maloney) are holed up in a scorching Arizona motel. Siblings, they have been devastated by their parents' deaths. Jeremy believes that memory is nature's video library. He and Juliet record people speaking about tragedy's effects on their lives. By exhaustively investigating events and memory, Jeremy believes he can answer the "why" of his parents' death. When a third player (John Middleton) enters, tragedy dislodges the siblings' quest for certainty.

Gremlin's production, directed by Leah Cooper, shoots directly into the angst of Berks' play with gripping performances by all three actors. Maloney possesses an easy surety to whatever emotion she is portraying -- a transparent and natural honesty. Cram is physically (and psychically, it seems) perfect for the part of a wounded brainiac, a kind of mad scientist bent on explaining his parents' deaths. And Middleton is perhaps the best non-Equity male actor on the small-theater scene. Mike Hallenbeck's sound design adds a raw edge with jangly guitar riffs and minor keys.

This is a fearless endeavor by playwright and company. Berks, ambitious and talented, loves to poke into the subconscious. Still, "Signs" doesn't feel consequential. It hits us squarely in the head, not the belly.

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299