Written by orange• May 23, 2025• 7:26 pm• Anaheim, Review, The Larking House Theatre Company, Theater, Uncategorized

Sentences @ The Larking House – Review

photo credit: Sidney Aptaker

Written by Patrick Chavis

The Larking House presents: Sentences, playing now at the Chance Theater May 16 – 25, 2025.

Set in the intimate Fyda-Mar space at the Chance Theater in Anaheim Hill, indie theatre producers The Larking House put on an original Orange County production with deep roots in the community. It was like high school all over again, but less dark. I’m just kidding; it was just as dark. No, this show was definitely darker.

Story:

This dramatic piece centered around adolescence, friendship, and the burden of secrets includes some off-pudding elements that distract from this honest and down-to-earth story penned here by Matthew M. Hayashi, with a gem of a scene that practically took my breath away. One scene can’t make an entire show, but can touch the heart.

Sentences is a play about four friends in high school: Will (Will Thomas), a quiet but caring guy; Laurel (Colman Blue Summers), an empathetic guy with anger issues; Michael (Jonathan Herrera), a guy with even more anger issues; and Daniel (Josh Causley), a laid-back, gentle soul who’s having trouble in school. After the death of a close friend, the bonds between them begin to untangle when secrets are unveiled.

The play does a good job of portraying the dynamics of a relationship between young men. Growing up, whether rich or poor, or of an ethnic background has its challenges, and even the places, like friendships and school, that are supposedly there to help can also be harmful.

“Hell is other people,”

Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre famously said. And I think this quote resonates with this play. As these young men feel caged by themselves, the people in the community, and even their friend groups. Daniel, played by Josh Causely, whose performance is reminiscent of a young Sean Penn here, effortlessly emotes these lines about his world and the disconnect between how he feels about himself and the world around him, which says something different, and its paralyzing effect, especially for the young.

Acting/Writing:

An exquisite scene brilliantly acted by Causely and Thomas. The language in this play is a terrific feature of this show, and I found myself impressed with how much it sounded like how I remember people used to talk back in middle school and high school days growing up in Orange County. I think Hayashi really captured a period of time in the community in this play. That being said, there are times and with certain characters, where the character departs from this more grounded place in the story, and in the right context, these devices can work, but in others, it is off-putting and takes you out of the story. Also, some characters can come off so one-note, you question why they’re even there.

Set Design/Acting:

The scenic design from Caleb McKinney utilizes a large checkered wall of tan and grey squares. The floor looks more concrete and is also square. While simple in appearance, the use of timed sound and lighting creates some wonderful transitions and settings with limited movement of the set.

When you find the authentic balance of acting, that’s what you get with Coleman Blue’s performance of Laurel, which is raw and fierce in its delivery.

Will does a great job of staying relaxed and vacant and finding his moments, probably due to a mixture of performance and direction from Tony Sanchez.

It’s an adult show with plenty of fake blood and violence.

An OC time capsule with a heart is playing now at the Chance Theater.