EVERYTHING THAT NEVER HAPPENED

Boston Court does a clean and moving job of putting Mantell's timely and affecting piece front and center – a treat from our only Pasadena theater focused on living playwrights and emerging work. New work, yes, but destined to last.

Anything is acceptable in the theatre if it works. In this case, even as skilled a director as Jessica Kubzanzky cannot overcome the writing's self-indulgence and the result is something of a well-intended muddle.

Everything That Never Happened builds around two vibrant, likable characters: both possess humor and a strong moral sense but are compelled by emotion to abandon their best instincts and act badly. It's an intense story with universal themes: youth versus age, and the impulse to honor and duty versus the desire for a life worth living for oneself.

It's hard to imagine a finer production of this play. The set is beautifully simple and flexible. The direction crisp. The acting and casting near ideal for the script. Unfortunately the script ultimately falls prey to it's own machinery.

Even those who haven't done their Merchant Of Venice homework will find much to savor in Everything That Never Happened. Brush up on your Shakespeare and you'll appreciate it even more.

Theatrical magic happens when all the elements of a production come together to form a seamless whole; when the text, direction, acting, and technical contributions feel so organically intertwined that it is hard to tell where one person's work ends, and another's begins. Everything That Never Happened at the Boston Court is intelligent, funny, and quite beautiful. It is also magic — a complete universe unto itself. Playwright Sarah B. Mantell, director Jessica Kubzansky, a gifted team of designers and technical staff, and a marvelous cast take you into an entirely reimagined world, influenced, but not defined by, The Merchant of Venice.