An Unsettling but Fast-Paced ‘Good Day’ at Glaxa Studios

Sharon Yablon’s new play, “The First Good Day,” at Glaxa Studios is an enigmatic flickering of images and jarring pronouncements made with dispassionate coldness by a mother, Anne (Shannon Holt), her daughter Julie (Sarah Koskoff) and their friendless student boarder, Brian (Gregory Littman).

As with other Oxblood productions, atmosphere is more important than plot. This newly formed collective of playwrights shares a gloomy vision of Los Angeles.

In Yablon’s piece, disturbing thoughts are spoken incongruously amid small talk and then greeted with polite acceptance by the other characters. Images of crushed pelicans, funerals and masturbation are given verbal expression. But nothing overtly sexual or bloody is shown on Jeffrey Atherton’s minimalist stage of circular metallic pieces suspended from the ceiling and smaller circular ponds of rocks on the floor, all lit stylishly by Ron Scarborough.

Littman’s Brian is an ungainly loner whose tense presence obliquely generates sexual impulses in the mother and daughter. Julie’s awkward adolescence is contrasted by the overly bright Penny (Dana Wieluns in a plastic mask complete with a yellow flip hairdo) and her self-centered chirpings. Yablon depicts the television that hypnotizes Anne and Julie, and the sunniness of Penny and the neighbor, Carl (Tom Waldman), as subtly malevolent.

As director, Yablon maintains a fast pace. The scenes whiz by, almost faster than memory. This slight tale can hardly sustain so many, lessening the possible impact and leaving one only with an unsettled, unsatisfied feeling.

BE THERE

“The First Good Day,” Glaxa Studios, 3707 Sunset Blvd. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Aug. 7. $12. (323) 692-7746. Running time: 1 hour.