KAIJU Delivers Over-the-Top Laughs with Missed Satirical Mark at Road Theatre

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The post-performance talk-backs on this particular production – or "guided conversations" or "post-show discussion" of whatever the parlance – should be an adventure. Particularly if the producers enlist the folks who, night after night, effectively lay waste to the Road Theatre. If you’re going to stick around after the 90 minutes of genre-blending craziness that is KAIJU, maybe in addition to probing insights, bring a hard hat?

Dan Caffrey’s new play, directed by Ken Sawyer in a co-production between the Road and BroadStage, depicts actors performing a play about conscious-stricken yet randy monsters destroying the city which is followed by a post-performance discussion by “audience members” about the play we’ve all just witnessed. After which, there comes a twist that makes the experience feel positively ouroboros-ian (I may not have used that term correctly, but damn it!, it’s close. Plus Tom Jacobson’s play OUROBOROS, also had its world premiere at the Road back in 2004, so there’s that.)

Not sure how much intersection there will actually be for fans of both the titular Japanese monster entertainment (think GODZILLA, with extra cheese) and those who geek out on the plays of Yasmina Reza , but if that sounds like you, KAIJU might just be your jam. Or in the case of one of the main characters, Goliath, your toejam. Consistently over-the-top with plenty of laughs and some technical dash for which the Road has long been known, Sawyer’s production shoots out a volley of satirical darts, few of which land with much impact.

At least the aim appears to be lampoon. How else to explain a couple of oversized creatures dressed in some seriously goofy costumes (serious shoutout to monster costume designers Shealyn Biron and Lee Diemer) debating the morality of the chaos they’ve caused before concluding “f**k it, we are who and what we are and we like it,” and then wreaking even more havoc before noisily procreating as only vastly different species can do? After which, we get a bunch of self-serious and opinionated playgoers with issues of their own trying to figure out not just the play we’ve just witnessed, but their own baggage. After which…no, no spoilers. But ouroboros!

Part 1 is the “play” itself. Amidst the ruins of North Hollywood and the lands adjacent (rendered in nicely-detailed miniature by scenic designer Lacey Anzelc), the scaly, lizard-like Apex (played by Cherish Monique Duke) happens upon sobbing fellow destructor Goliath ( Leandro Cano ). Lured out from underneath the temple from which he had been worshiped for thousands of years, Goliath emerged around, only to walk around to check things out thereby accidentally killing thousands. Which was never his intention. Apex is far less sentimental. She came out of the water, also to investigate this new terrain, only to find a bunch of tiny creatures attacking her. Apex will listen and talk Goliath out of his funk, but as far as she’s concerned, destruction is forward movement. “So you wanted to kill them,” asks Goliath. “Only after they wanted to kill me,” she replies.

These attacks resume – via tiny planes and tanks controlled by costumed stagehand Shinji (Genki Hall). At Apex’s urging, Goliath fights back and more terror ensues. The connection between these two monsters established and solidified, Goliath proposes some inter-species naughtiness with Apex and the two create a new life.

After which, we move into the analysis portion. The same actors who played Goliath and Apex are revealed to be, respectively, playwright Manuel and Amelia who is the theater’s ultra-pushy Community Relations Director. The folks they’re trying to engage include Roy ( Jon Snow ), a pop-culture loving doofus who takes the messaging of the play very seriously indeed; his girlfriend Lee (Gabie Faulkner) who thinks this playgoing crap is…well…crap; Kyle (Billy Baker) who has some experience with plays and talkbacks and is very careful about venturing his opinions; Rani (Sapna Kumar) an enthusiastic know-it-all who has genuinely smart questions and observations; Sondra, a fellow actor and friend of the playwright; and Maggie ( Ann Hearn ), Manuel’s acting teacher and one of the funders of the production.

What we have here, then, is what Caffrey sees as a cross-section of live stage audiences - ardent “thea-tuh” people and everyday folks, some of whom are dragged along, others who like to hear themselves hold forth when given the opportunity. As a theater employee, Amelia, of course, has an agenda. Shinji wants in. Lee wants out. Between attempts to extract the sociological lessons from the Apex/Goliath tale and off-topic associations that run the gamut from the morality of Roman Polanski to THE SOPRANOS to the protocol of standing ovations, the last half hour of KAIJU is basically controlled chaos.

The talkback deconstruction scenes – by turns uncomfortable and very funny – have the air of familiarity. Very clearly, Caffrey has been on both sides of these discussions and probably heard some very smart (and probably some equally stupid) theatergoers come up with some lulus. As her filters fall away, Faulkner’s wonderfully bitter Lee scores point after point about the pretension of live stage. Duke’s crazed Amelia foils her expertly, playing a moderator who is going to get every earnest, woke platitude spoken even if means trapping people in a building that is about to come crashing down on everyone’s heads (which it almost is). Hearn’s stage-is-life embracing Maggie delivers even more comic gold.

The thread linking the beasts of KAIJU and the talk back-ers feels pretty tenuous. Largely, this is two one-acts the first of which is over-the-top corny, the second an ode to audiences which is either deeply affectionate or the playwright’s veiled attempt at chomping the hand that’s feeding him. Regardless, KAIJU romps but its leveled chaos is more fleeting than memorable.

KAIJU continues through November 1 at 10747 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood.

Photo of the cast of KAIJU by Ken Sawyer .

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/Review-KAIJU-at-Road-Theatre-Company-20261005)._