Steven Dietz is someone whose work is very familiar to you, yet he’s a mystery. Dietz’ “Lonely Planet”, now at Luna, was originally written during the AIDS crisis. Yet the setting in “a map store, on the oldest street in an American city” could quite literally be anywhere. This two-hander is under the expert direction of Melissa Firlit, who is an artistic director in her own right. Jody (John Keller) and Carl (Dustin Ballard) originally had a store-owner/customer relationship. But when Carl likes a place, he REALLY likes it. Somewhere between patron and influencer, Carl has become a friend. And while the two men are gay, it really is possible for men to be friends without being lovers first.
Looming outside the small and modest, eclectically decorated map store is an existential threat. While originally it was HIV/AIDS, now we can fill in the amorphous blanks with COVID or those Dickensian favorites Ignorance and Pestilence. All of these seem poised at this point for a big comeback. All the while, somehow, chairs appear – sometimes one by one, sometimes en masse, in Jody’s store. This evokes a Le Mis “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” feel when we learn that each chair is representative of women and men lost in the mysterious malaise enveloping the world.
Jody initially is the agoraphobe, afraid to leave the store even to go home. Carl is the worldly person and we see him bringing chairs. This feels very much like offering sanctuary but is it a hollow gesture? Are the people gone, so save their simulacrum? See the show and let’s have a talk. The simple story has myriad implications and the love and trust between these two friends runs deep and wide.
“Lonely Planet” is now and ever. The show is running December 8 so get your tickets now at https://ci.ovationtix.com/35227/production/1205648.