Photos courtesy of Coast Playhouse Elvin
Whitesides and Jay Laisne star in Mark
Leonard’s "Dylan’s Ghost," playing at West Hollywood’s Coast
Playhouse.
By Andrea Dingman
Daily Bruin Contributor
The pairing of a dead British poet, a recently rehabilitated
drug and alcohol addict from New York, and a down-on-her-luck Texan
country western singer might sound like the setup of a bad joke,
but these three personas make up the cast of the play
“Dylan’s Ghost.”
The comedy/drama, written and directed by Mark Leonard, opened
last weekend at the Coast Playhouse in West Hollywood.
The play revolves around the yearly visits that the ghost of
Dylan Thomas, a famous Welsh poet, pays to a small family-run bar
in New York City where he made his last social appearance on Nov.
9, 1953, just before he died.
The play opens as Billy, the bar owner’s son who was
recently set free from his rehab center, nervously prepares the bar
in the wee hours of the morning for Thomas’s visit, hiding
all signs that show that the year is no longer 1955. Apparently,
Billy doesn’t want the ghost to realize that it is now the
year 2000, since Thomas doesn’t even realize he’s dead.
Billy is played by Jay Laisne and Kevin Brown on alternate
weekends.
As Billy is cleaning, in walks Gaylen (Christy McBrayer), a
flamboyant, wannabe country singer, complete with western attire
““ cowboy boots and a fringed shirt.
 Christy McBrayer and Jay
Laisne commiserate in a New York bar in the haunting
"Dylan’s Ghost," playing through Nov. 19. The chemistry between the
two is immediately evident as they coyly attempt to guess each
other’s life stories. Billy correctly guesses that Gaylen was
recently abandoned by her boyfriend and Gaylen guesses about
Billy’s life in rehab, filling the audience in on the
information that the narrative left out.
Billy tells a skeptical, yet intrigued, Gaylen of his hopes of
proving that Thomas’s ghost really does frequent his bar.
Billy feels this will impress his father, whose opinion of Billy
has faltered because of his drug and alcohol addictions.
While Billy goes down to the cellar, Thomas, portrayed by Elvin
Whitesides, walks in and immediately attempts to charm the
increasingly inebriated Gaylen.
Thomas uses the alias Richard Jenkins, but is obviously the
apparition alluded to by Billy. Virtually every line he says is
reminiscent of Thomas’s poetic style. He seasons his
conversations with metaphors and allusions that the poet was known
for.
The main story line of the play consists of Thomas’s
denial of the reality that he is dead, and Billy and Gaylen’s
fears of failure. Thomas always seems to disappear the moment that
he loses control of a situation. For instance, when Billy and
Gaylen panic during one of Thomas’s coughing fits and call an
ambulance, Thomas vanishes, aware that such an encounter would
prove that he is dead.
Thomas’s departure leaves Billy crushed without the only
thing he thinks will validate him in the eyes of his father:
evidence that Thomas’s ghost was present, something his
father was never able to acquire himself.
Gaylen is also disappointed; Thomas’s approval of her
songwriting was the solace and comfort she was searching for.
Dumped by her manager, accompanist and boyfriend of seven years,
she is insecure until Thomas validates her talents by praising a
song she performs.
In the second half of the play, Billy and Gaylen are left alone
in the bar and resume their mutual interview. Billy’s
chilling story about the death of a fellow patient at rehab is
superbly performed by Laisne. The monologue is expertly written by
Leonard, who weaves a complex, sometimes comedic and sometimes
somber narrative that leaves the audience raptly mournful.
Laisne, a UCLA alumnus, is the backbone of the cast, going from
comedic to dramatic performances in seconds. His understated style
is just right for playing the counterpart with McBrayer’s
over-the-top portrayal of Gaylen.
McBrayer’s performance is also touching, but she deserves
merit mostly for her comedic contribution to the play. Even with an
over-exaggerated Texas twang, she is still believable and
dignified.
The interplay between Laisne and McBrayer is the highlight of
the play. The two intermittently connect and separate, making the
rare moments of extended eye contact that much more meaningful.
From their initial conversation as strangers to their closeness at
the end of the play, their chemistry is authentic.
Unfortunately, the magic of the play turns to novelty when
Thomas reappears. Whitesides reduces Thomas to a bumbling English
idiot for much of the play and, unfortunately, not even
Leonard’s beautiful script can make up for the deficit in
Whitesides’ acting ability.
Leonard’s direction is masterful, with sensitive details
like Laisne’s adoring gaze at Gaylen from behind the bar as
she charms Thomas. Moments such as these are treasures to the
audience members who notice these subtleties.
While the ending is slightly overly sentimental, the message is
applicable in life. Everyone has tasks they need to do in order to
feel complete, such as Billy’s need to prove Dylan’s
existence.
The resolution for all three characters, while unique, also
unites them inextricably, as they all eventually face their
reality.
While “Ghost” is an unusual, yet flawed work, its
themes and direction make it worthwhile to see, especially for
those who are trying to track down some ghosts of their own.
THEATER: “Dylan’s Ghost” runs through Nov. 19.
Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and 7
p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $10 each for Thursday and Sunday
performances, and $20 each for Friday and Saturday performances.
For tickets, call Tickets L.A. at (323) 655-8587.