Review: Growing Up, Growing Old With Humor and Heart

“The Reservoir,” Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles, June 18 – July 20, 2025

June 29, 2025 | By Bruce R. Feldman

In Brief: Jake Brasch’s heartfelt, theatrical account of addiction, redemption, aging, and what it means to love and be loved is packed with life-affirming humanity, humor, and delicious performances. I loved every minute of it.

Lee Wilkof, Liz Larsen, Carolyn Mignini, Geoffrey Wade and Jake Horowitz in The Reservoir at Geffen Playhouse (Photo: Jeff Lorch)

When we first meet Josh (an engaging Jake Horowitz), the narrator and main character of The Reservoir, he appears to be just another quirky, confused kid without much depth or gravitas, leaving us to wonder, where is this play going?

He is an alcoholic who dropped out of college in New York and has come home to his family in Denver. It’s a desperation move. He needs help to combat his addiction and get his life back on track.

Josh’s father is not a factor in his life, so it’s up to his wary, divorced mother Patricia (Marin Hinkle, marvelous not only in this role but in several others she very skillfully essays) to do what she can.

At first, she won’t let him move in with her. He’s fallen off the wagon before. It’s too painful but so is leaving him homeless. She relents, even gets him a job at the community bookstore where she works as a buyer.

Josh’s four aging grandparents are on hand to support him, as well. In a nod to that other generational saga, Our Town, the seniors sit on stage most of the time in four chairs at the back, watching, waiting until called on to comfort or advise Josh or add their comical, mimed reactions to the scenes playing out before them.

Liz Larsen, Carolyn Mignini, Jake Horowitz, Lee Wilkof and Geoffrey Wade

This is where Brasch’s play begins to soar. It’s no longer just about Josh’s individual struggle. It’s now a nuanced drama about his redemption and about getting old, facing mortality, and how the young and elderly can teach and learn valuable life lessons from each other.

Brasch interleaves these serious and tender moments with good-natured, sometimes just wacky humor. When Josh’s adoring but sage grandmother Beverly (Liz Larsen) takes him to her Jazzercise class, Marin Hinkle does a hilarious turn as an over enthusiastic instructor.

The second bar mitzvah his irascible grandfather Shrimpy (Lee Wilkof) has at age 83 is a shambles. The old man cannot remember his Torah portion, but he can recall word for word the one he read when he was 13. The New Age female rabbi (Hinkle) overseeing the service is not amused.

There’s even a screwball musical number that Josh writes and performs as part of his graduation thesis. (Yes, he eventually sorts out his life enough to return to school.)

Lee Wilkof, Carolyn Mignini, Jake Horowitz, Geoffrey Wade and Liz Larsen in The Reservoir at Geffen Playhouse. (Photo: Jeff Lorch)

Not all of Josh’s interactions with his grandparents are funny, however.

His unyielding grandfather Hank (Geoffrey Wade) won’t forgive Josh for going on a bender and missing his grandmother’s funeral. Josh also must  grapple with his emotions as first one grandmother (Carolyn Mignini), then a second descend into Alzheimer’s.

Horowitz and Hinkle are terrific in both the dramatic and comedy episodes. So are the four veteran actors playing his grandparents. Adrián González plays the bookstore manager who puts up with Josh’s bumbling and a slew of other, dissimilar supporting roles smoothly.

Shelly Butler’s inventive, sure-handed direction ties together the great writing and acting, moving seamlessly from laugh-out-loud comedy to bittersweet sentiment and back again. Lighting and production design are admirable  as always at the Geffen.

Life is tough and then you die. Be sure to catch The Reservoir before you do.

“The Reservoir,” Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024, geffenplayhouse.org, (310)-208-2028