Finks

FINKS centers on Mickey Dobbs (French Stewart), Review: FINKS Centers on a Terrifying Time and No-Win Situation for Artists in Americaa comic on the verge of TV stardom who meets Natalie Meltzer (Vanessa Claire Stewart), a left-wing actress/activist who gathers friends in support of changing the way democracy was splitting America based on wealth. And if you think about it, even to this day many of their arguments for socialized medicine and equal rights still make media headlines and split public opinion. But in the 1950s, those who spoke out for such things were seen a subversive to our government and labelled communists, with Senator Joe McCarthy convinced movies were being made to promote those beliefs and needed to be halted before undermining our democracy. Intense production that teaches a lesson we all need to remember or we are doomed to repeat it.

Serious, yes, but there is much more to Finks due to a well-witten script and actors who add so much more to the play.

Pressman's direction is at the mercy of the overdeveloped script and therefore struggles with the built-in problems of the first act that he can't entirely overcome. As usual, the acting at Rogue Machine is solid, and the unobtrusive but constant presence at the piano of music director Richard Levinson as The Piano Man Dickie Lewis, is a welcome thread. It relieves tensions, facilitates transitions, and keeps things relentlessly moving forward.

Finks in one of the most dauntless, ‘on point' productions of the season – acute, relevant and filled with battering heartbreak. - Very Highly Recommended

The term “now more than ever” may be overused, but take a gander at any day's headlines out of D.C. and you'll see how aptly it describes Finks, just one reason the latest from Rogue Machine packs the most powerful of punches.

Michael Pressman, whose father David was also blacklisted, adeptly directs his ensemble in eliciting laughs and gripping, tense performances. Richard Levinson's tickling of the ivories also enhances a wonderful night at the theatre for the Left Coast premiere of a play which was nommed for a NY Drama Desk award and deserves to nab numerous Ovations.

Michael Pressman, the son of black-listed parents, directs with a firm and knowledgeable hand and moves the play seamlessly through various locations, utilizing every nook and cranny of the stage. Throughout, Richard Levinson, a successful composer in his own right, is at the keyboard and entertains with appropriate music.

Both the playwright and director of Finks are the children of blacklisted parents. They have done their forebears proud by mounting a vibrant production of the play, one that brings the contentious fifties to life in a hard-driving, impressionistic way... Finks may be a historical play but the history it deals with has come full circle on us. We are living in a similarly highly-charged political environment, one in which right-wing powers have mounted an attack on democratic values and beliefs. That makes the piece even more relevant than when it was first produced back East in 2008.

Plays like Finks demonstrate the power of theatre to remind us of what is important. They show us that the best way to fight back against a government that has taken a wrong turn — in either direction — is to become that activist. They show us the power of standing up for what is right, even at a great personal costs. That's true for the actors of the Hollywood Blacklist, most of whom were not Communists in the Russian sense, but working for peace and better conditions for workers in all industries. That's equally true for the Democrats of today, who are working to make the country better for all. This play sends the message of the importance of standing up (or of kneeling, when appropriate) to authority that isn't upholding the values of America.

Leavened with humor, with a strong intuitive performer in the pivotal role, it's a harsh reminder of what can happen when unscrupulous people acquire control of the workings of government and words become instrumental in destroying innocent lives.

Gilford has captured the language of the period so well—the corny jokes with a political edge, the earnest urgings to get involved and take a stand, the folk music of the time (“Which Side Are You On?”), the radio commercials, the Abbott and Costello routines, the soap operas, the Yiddish words flung about in this largely Jewish community. One can hardly ignore the transparent anti-Semitism, or anti-“cosmopolitanism” to use a contemporary term, in the persecution of political heretics.

The excellent production of the show by Rogue Machine Theatre demonstrates yet again what a strong and impressive company this is. A great production of an important play.

Gilford, along with director Michael Pressman, are both children of blacklisted parents so the material has a deeper resonance for them and it shows both in the clever and detailed writing and in the polished direction of the show.

French Stewart is fantastic, he wears hangdog panic like a bespoke suit, and he is quite believable as a comic of the era on the brink of mainstream stardom. It takes us inside what it feels like as each person tries to decide what to do. Finks and Oppenheimer do complement one another.

Gripping. FINKS fits powerfully with its partnered Rogue Machine presentation, OPPENHEIMER. Together they form the picture of an era which should never be forgotten, an era with lessons as relevant today as they were more than 50 years ago. A Splash Selection.

French and Vanessa Claire Stewart excel in the Los Angeles premiere of Joe Gilford's absorbing look at the Hollywood blacklist. When playwright Joe Gilford sat down to write Finks, he needed look no further than his own family for inspiration. His father and mother, Jack and Madeline Lee Gilford, were persecuted in the early 1950s, subpoenaed to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. The episode derailed their acting careers. Their story...is at the heart of Joe's witty, warm and dramatic paean to his parents.