Reviewed by Jeanne Hartman

A new play, Firehouse, challenges its characters as well as it’s audience to seek the truth, the real truth.   

A rookie fireman saves his veteran partner, pulling him out of a burning building, but he leaves behind a 12 year-old girl who is finally rescued from the fire badly burned and she soon dies.  The rookie fireman swears that he did not see the girl, but the community surrounding this firehouse is outraged calling for his dismissal.   

Inside the firehouse this band of brothers who fight fires together, live together and who work as a family, face standing by a man they barely know and against the community they have lived and worked in for years.   

In the middle of this battle is Robert Miranda Perry (played by Kamar de los Reyes), a veteran fireman who has bridged the gap between his brother firemen and his community for many years.  On one side of the tug-of-war are his brother firemen who believe they must stand by this rookie cop-turned fireman, Brian Boyle (Gerald Downey) even though his history leaves a question to his truthfulness.  On the other side is Perry’s girlfriend, Aida Rojas, played by Jossara Jinaro, who demands that Perry stand with his community and with her.   

Perry and Jinaro bring their “A” game to their performances, as these two very talented artists bare the emotions of their characters, defending their positions. This is when de los Reyes uses his stillness very effectively, allowing the audience to travel with him on this journey.   

Inside the firehouse the debates heat up with the actors who play the other firemen each bringing color and variety to their roles.  Ed Morrone as Mike Valentine and Jon Southwell in the role of William Salerno, along with de los Reyes as Perry create a group of New York firemen who have worked with each other for many years and the audience is allowed to peek into their lives at the firehouse.  Watching the firemen in their own habitat gives the audience an opportunity to get to know these men, as they reveal their thoughts, opinions and even their prejudices.   

The rest of the ensemble brings strong performances, including Elvis Nolaco as Pito, Bryan Rasmussen as the Captain and the accused rookie cop-turned fireman Brian Boyle played by Gerald Downey. 

Playwright, Pedro Antonio Garcia and director, Bryan Rasmussen, create a scintillating first act and it is stunning in its ability to allow the audience to feel the hard choice that the character, Robert Perry, is facing.  Unfortunately, the second act seems to take that dilemma away from the audience.   

Although all of the actors performed each of the scenes to the best of their abilities, if the play had continued the challenge that the first act sets out, this play would be absolutely brilliant.  This should not stop any theatergoer from spending a Friday evening at the Whitefire Theatre.  With a theme so packed with emotional challenges and with such talented actors hopefully the playwright will continue to explore the possibilities for the second act. 

For information go to www.theatermania.com for the performance schedule.  It should be noted that it only plays on Friday evenings and is presented until April 29, 2011.

Contributing writer JEANNE HARTMAN, the Actors Detective, coaches  professional actors in Los Angeles and teaches actors, directors and writers  in Hong Kong.  She can be contacted at www.JeanneHartmanActorsDetective.com. 

Her book, The Right Questions for Actors, is written in an inter-active book style that supports actors. Veteran actors call it their “new Bible” when it comes to preparing for auditions.  It is available at her website and on Amazon.

Her studies at the Juilliard School, and with Lawrence Parke, Barbara Loden, Mark Travis and training at Centre Lyrique Int’l with Lotfi Mansouri add to Ms. Hartman’s ability to discover which technique is best for each student.  Ms. Hartman’s acting experience on stage across the country, and  in front of the camera, prepared her to become a respected acting coach and teacher in demand by actors, directors, writers, agents, managers and producers.