Theater review: ‘Heavy Like the Weight of a Flame’ at Odyssey Theatre
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Author Joe Queenan, whose abusive, alcoholic father made his upbringing a living hell that Queenan chronicles in his memoir, “Closing Time,” has some salient counsel for those born into similar circumstances. “If you’re born poor,” Queenan advises, “you’d better start reading.’
For R. Ernie Silva, an early appetite for books proved redemptive. It’s been a long road from the Bushwick projects of Brooklyn, where Silva was raised, to the Odyssey Theatre, where his one-man show, “Heavy Like the Weight of a Flame,” co-authored by James Gabriel and directed by Mary Joan Negro, is currently playing.
A talented break-dancer, musician and stand-up comic, Silva has impressive credits that indicate a heartening amount of personal success. “Weight,” however, deals with Silva’s tumultuous adolescence as one of 13 children being raised poor. The show chronicles the sad surrender of Silva’s two brothers, both talented musicians, to ravaging drug addiction. At one point, his drug-addled older brother catches the youthful Silva reading and reacts with a degree of consternation and contempt that is truly chilling.
The sheer strength of will that it took for Silva to outstrip such negative indoctrination is inspiring, as is his personal odyssey from Brooklyn through the heartland of America, a journey undertaken by hook, by crook, and frequently by boxcar, with stops along the way for a spell in a small-town hoosegow, a surreal chat with a rail-riding sage, and a mountaintop epiphany that changes the direction of Silva’s life. It’s an engaging evening, but in terms of sheer nuts-and-bolts storytelling, Silva’s saga is an up-by-the-bootstraps tale that we have heard before.
-- F. Kathleen Foley
“Heavy Like the Weight of a Flame,” Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West. L.A. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. Ends Aug. 8. $15. (310) 477-2055. Running time: 1 hour, 10 minutes.