A father loses his young daughter to a car accident and can't seem to come to grips. The man who takes responsibility for her death is a stage hypnotist so deeply affected by it that he's lost his suggestive touch. The two cross paths for the first time when the hypnotist inadvertently selects the father as a volunteer. | opens its new season with Tim Crouch's An Oak Tree, a provocative, experimental, two-character theater piece where the hypnotist is the "constant" while the father is portrayed by a different actor each show, an actor who's neither seen nor read a word of the play until he or she is performing in it. It's not traditional improv — the guest actors are handed the script when they take the stage — but it does provide ample opportunities for character interpretation and creative emoting. Gorilla Theatre kicks off An Oak Tree with an all-star cast of local talents taking up the role of the father each week: Emilia Sargent on Thursday, Julie Rowe on Friday, Petrus Antonius on Saturday and Drew De Caro on Sunday. Different actors assume the role for each show through the run of the production. Sept. 4-21, 7 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 3 p.m. Sun., 4419 N. Hubert Ave. #D, Tampa, $20-$25 general/$15-$20 seniors and students ($10 student rush tickets available 30 minutes before the show), 813-879-2914.
This article appears in Sep 3-9, 2008.