Little-known to many Pepperdine students is a local stage company just north of Pepperdine on PCH. The Malibu Stage Company began in 1990 at Pepperdine’s own Smothers Theatre. Its current production, “Kimberly Akimbo,” opens today, featuring a Pepperdine sophomore and directed by an adjunct communication professor.
Kimberly Akimbo is the story of a teenager with a rare disease that causes her to age four and a half times faster than normal. The play centers on the trials of Kimberly and her dysfunctional family, along with the complications of a first love.
“It’s really about how short our lives are and how to make the most of that time,” said Tasha Ames, who plays con artist Aunt Debra. “It’s a kind of theatrical trick, portraying that concept through the lens of a 16-year-old played by an elderly woman.”
Kimberly’s family is comprised of her hypochondriac mother and alcoholic father, and is strangely held together by her aunt, who also fails to pose a positive influence. Rather than accept her daughter’s fated early death, her mother projects every imaginable disease onto herself instead. Kimberly turns to her young Aunt Debra as a mother figure instead.
“Her mother has worked for 16 years, her father drinks, and she’s just recently moved and really has no friends at school,” said Katharine Ross, who plays Kimberly. Ross has appeared in “The Graduate” (which got her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress) and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”
“Her mother is always talking about dying, and drags disease onto herself with the vague hope that she might die of one of them,” Director Graeme Clifford said, “By doing this, she makes it easier for her to accept the fact that her daughter will die.”
Kimberly is only 16 but because of her disease, she is near the end of her life expectancy and appears much older. Through it all, Kimberly is able to find solace in a fellow classmate.
“Kimberly is able to find happiness in her finals days in true love,” Breck Gallini, Pepperdine sophomore and theatre and television major said. Gallini plays Jeff, a nerdy and awkward 16-year-old in Kimberly’s biology class.
The class is assigned to do a project on any disease, and after meeting Kimberly, Jeff is inspired to do his report on her disease.
“For Jeff it’s [the disease] the thing about Kimberly that first attracts him to her,” Ames said. “Her entire family does everything they can to pretend that she doesn’t have it, but Jeff is so fascinated by her disease.”
Although Kimberly’s family has become accustomed to ignoring her disease, Jeff is drawn into her life and her unconventional family lifestyle.
“She introduces me to this whole new world, when my world was so tiny to begin with,” Gallini said. “I’m kind of sucked into their family life.”
As it turns out, Kimberly and Jeff have similar histories, both with alcoholic fathers and low-achieving relatives.
“Jeff finds a sort of soulmate in Kimberly,” Clifford said.
Clifford is on the board of directors of the Malibu Stage Company, and this is his third production there. His first was “Rabbit Hole” in 2009, 
which was written by the same playwright as “Kimberly Akimbo.” That is where he first met Ross and Ames. When slating this year’s productions with the board, Clifford collaborated with the two to select “Kimberly Akimbo.”
To fill the role of Jeff, Clifford posted a notice in the backstage of Smothers for open auditions at the beginning of the school year, which is how Gallini got involved.
“The sign read, ‘Seeking 16 year-old nerdy, unpopular high school kid,’ and I said, ‘Hey, that’s me,’” Gallini said. “Kimberky Akimbo” is Gallini’s first production with the Malibu Stage Company.
Also working behind the scenes with lighting is Pepperdine alum Alex Montano, who graduated in 2009. Montano was a theatre arts, production and design major, and still works at the Center for the Arts from time to time.
“It’s always a challenge working in a small room like at the Malibu Stage Company,” Montano said. “The action really has to draw people’s eyes more than just the lighting.”
“Kimberly Akimbo,” will be playing at the Malibu Stage Company through March 18. Tickets are $25 general admission, but Pepperdine students who call the box office directly or present ID can purchase tickets for $10.
