David Mancini and Arthur Keng discuss their Los Angeles Play ‘Normal’

David: Humor is an important part of aggression and releasing aggression. Anger is funny, especially when it has a clear point of view. Lewis Black is a great example of this. The humor in this play lends itself to the terror very well. True terror lives on a cliff’s edge between excitement and fear. The humor helps walk the audience to edge and leaves them there, asking themselves whether they would jump or not. The scariest things are attached to the things you love, that bring joy and release as humor does. A  fear of airplanes is really only terrifying when mixed with a love of travel. Domestic violence is terrifying because the victim has deep love for the aggressor. Humor is a way in which we can let out our darkest thoughts safely, with out the attached violence, It becomes terror when someone acts upon these thoughts. The balance between terror and humor is inherent in their basic relationship.

David: Initially, I hope they like it and are entertained. In the long run, I hope the show will make them think, about themselves and the society they live in. I hope the themes and imagery stays with them and festers in their brain until they have to take action to answer the deep and personal questions in the play. I set moments up in the play that I hope hit the audience later in the evening where they find they are asking themselves why did I laugh at that? Why didn’t I help her? Did I dictate my path or was it someone else’s design? Why do I go about my life as I do?

Arthur: I’d say ‘Yes’ to both. I do enjoy a good psychological thriller and it’s been fun to explore this one. As for whether it made me uncomfortable, I hope to find something in every role that forces me into some kind of discomfort since that’s what makes it interesting and engaging as an actor. It definitely wasn’t too hard to find that with Justus. His journey is one of a lamb becoming a wolf, and that’s a gut-wrenching ordeal, which I had to find for myself throughout the process.

Arthur: The arc of Justus’ journey is so severe, you don’t get that in a lot of plays, so the prospect of riding that roller coaster was super exciting. Knowing Dave, Steve, and Carolyn were going to be involved was also a huge reason I joined, as I had heard great things about Dave and had yet to share any scenes with Steve and Carolyn in previous shows but had always wanted to.

I didn’t approach this show and character much differently than I would any other. It’s always a process of finding and experimenting with motivations and character history. People are capable of great and horrible things, as this show demonstrates, but both good and bad actions are driven by desires and needs, and that’s what I focused on finding for myself.

Arthur: It’s interesting, I never really saw it as defending evil. Justus is disgusted by Kurten’s crimes and, early in the play, his argument is that ‘Good’ should strive to convert ‘Evil’ in order to prove itself truly superior. I think this is very much a story of awakening to one interpretation of the nature of humanity and how that can be completely overwhelming and make one lose control of oneself. I’ve never really felt any ambiguity in playing the character since that suggests to me a level of reflection and deliberation that I don’t think Justus gets a chance to do once he meets Kurten.

Arthur: As with most Vagrancy shows, the hope is that the audience leaves at least a little bit shaken, but in a good way. It’s a freight train of a show and I think we’ve done our job if, at the end of the night, the audience feels like they’ve either ridden that train or been hit by it.