Bringer of Doom Shines a Black Light on the Human Condition

Lotte (Lena Drake) is a directionless woman whose main motivation appears to be getting revenge on her mother Esme (Laura Botsacos), who she sees as the source of all the misery in her life. To achieve this, she employs the services of alcoholic, homeless ex-comedian Demetrius (David Z. Lanson), who she had let stay in her apartment overnight. Demetrius appears the next morning in Lotte’s bathrobe and slippers and immediately heads to the bar cart, ready to begin his day of delirium. Lotte offers to let Demetrius continue to crash at her place and have all the booze he wants—if he will play the role of Lotte’s artist boyfriend. Lotte wants Demetrius to use his alleged comedic skills to completely humiliate her mother. Thus begins Bringer of Doom, a darkly comedic slice-of-life (and death) brilliantly devised by Joe Thristino.

Esme arrives with her “Toy Boy” (as Lotte calls him), a young stud named Clancy (James Andrew Fraser). Esme at first appears to be the monster that Lotte has described her to be, but as the layers peel back, we see that despite her obnoxious demeanor she is not entirely in the wrong, nor the sole source of Lotte’s troubles. Demetrius warms up by insulting Clancy’s career as a Cranio-Sacral Therapist, and Clancy responds by declaring Demetrius’ (non-existent) art to be mediocre. Lotte and Esme’s initial conversation is filled with an icy tension that would make Lorelai and Emily Gilmore shudder.

Demetrius begins his attack on Esme, but his jokes fall completely flat; when he uses an embarrassing moment in Esme’s past to humiliate her, she erupts in horror and demands an explanation; and despite what we’ve heard about Esme, it’s hard not to take her side at this point. More revelations occur about the characters’ tragic pasts, and they are simultaneously humorous and horrifying.

The play technically has two Acts, though there is no intermission. A Carbon Monoxide leak knocks out the foursome to end the first Act, but Demetrious awakens quickly and saves Lotte and Esme. (Demetrius muses that his dedication to substance abuse must have made him immune to the fumes.) Clancy seems to have succumbed—he is prone on the floor without a pulse—but suddenly returns from beyond, singing the praises of the Afterlife. He insists on going back immediately and implores the others to follow. His big adventure fuels the second part of the show, as the characters, with only their despair in common, ponder whether to give the CO another go. At this point the play takes on an existentialist air, as the four debate whether they have any reason to continue their corporeal lives, intrigued by Clancy’s insistence that the grass is greener on the literal Other Side.

The actors all excel at balancing the humor and pathos of their life journeys, which have come to an individual and collective standstill. It’s all skillfully brought together by the direction of Mark Koenig. The set design mimics that of a classic sitcom, with the fully stocked bar cart symbolizing the characters’ daily means of escape and foreshadowing their desire to be permanently free of their troubled reality. Despite this dark turn, the shadows give way to a very hopeful denouement. 

Bringer of Doom runs at The Players Theatre through August 25, 2024.