“The Lyons” at 2nd Story Theatre

by Richard Pacheco

        

“The Lyons” at 2^nd Story Theatre by Nicky Silver bristles with quirky and sassy dialogue, making for many laughs along the way and some touching moments as well.  They are ill-tempered and nasty to each other, seem like the cannot cling without stabbing each other verbally. It is loaded with one liners as they kick the ego out of each other.

Silver’s play, “The Lyons”, opened on Broadway in April 2012, after an Off-Broadway run at the Vineyard Theater in 2011. This is his first play to be produced on Broadway where the play stared Linda Lavin and Dick Latessa. His new play, “Too Much Sun” is expected to premiere Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre in May 2014, with direction by Mark Brokaw and starring Linda Lavin.

Ben Lyons is in a hospital where he is dying from cancer. His family gathers around him.  His wife Rita kept the illness secret from the children. The family surrounds him including his grown children, Curtis Lyons and Lisa Lyons. He is also attended by a pleasant nurse who takes care of his needs. Ben is no longer constrained by manners or family niceties, and says whatever he wishes, including tons of expletives. Rita, trapped in a 40-year loveless marriage, now thinks of the future without Ben and plans to re-decorate the living room. Lisa is an alcoholic, who has left an abusive marriage; but is still attracted to her husband. Curtis, a homosexual, has had little to do with his father, who is homophobic and despises his lifestyle and isn’t afraid to say it. In a getaway from the hospital, Curtis looks at an apartment with the help of an actor moonlighting as a real estate agent.  The Lyons were vastly ill suited for each other and the main question remains of what will happen to the children as well as Rita when he dies.

Vince Petronio is Ben, who recently found out he had cancer and was dying—soon. It has made him blunt and ill tempered and he has little patience left for his wife of 40 years or his two grown children of whom he vastly disapproves for various reasons. He unloads all on his family with particular nastiness on his son Curtis. Petronio is taut and hilarious in the role as he spews swears out like a machine gun aimed in all directions, spraying the room with pent up frustration and rage.

Paula Faber is Rita, a woman frustrated by her 40 year marriage whose greatest current joy is that she will be able to redo the lining room and toss that ugly furniture once her husband dies. She even tries to enlist his aid in picking out a new look, but he balks at the idea with fierce determination and forbids her to do it. She is a suffering belittling Jewish mother whose loves comes in like porcupine quills, sharp and pointed. Faber is the epitome of the well dressed, sophisticated and ever nasty Rita, always poised to take another shot at her husband and her children with relish and abandon.

Lara Hakeem is Lisa, the divorced battered ex-wife still attracted to her former abusive husband and the alcoholic daughter. She doesn’t know what a healthy relationship looks like, something reinforced when she meets a man down the hall from her father in the hospital who is dying and is attracted to him. Hakeem is delightful in the role. She withers beneath her mother’s barrages of meanness and insults and she struggles to keep battling the omnipresent urge to drink and drink a lot.

Kevin Broccoli is Curtis, the gay son hated by his father for not living up to dad’s expectations. Curtis is awkward, brainy, full of fantasies with serious problems, not big surprise considering his family situation and in particular his father’s bile towards him. He is without doubt the product of Rita and Ben’s upbringing.  Broccoli is terrific in the role, delivering a balance of awkwardness and intelligence along with a wounded tiny animal quality that is effective.

Lucia Gill Case rounds out the cast as the nurse so is so attentive to Ben and more no nonsense when Curtis ends up on the hospital in the same ward later on. Case is solid and effective in her role.

Director Mark Pelham keeps the pace brisk and potent, oozing nastiness at every turn.  It is also vastly entertaining while being down and dirty. He mines the sheer malice here for great comic effect, making us laugh in spite of ourselves.

Set designer Karl Pellitier uses a less is more concept with the sparsely decorated hospital room and even the apartment later has very little but more than enough to make it palatable and work.

The play is a raucous family free for all, with all the family members going at each with rare zest and venom a take no prisoners approach that is as nasty as it is funny. The play never wanes in its energy or its spite. The wining cast boldly blazes into battle from the first without faltering, spewing some very funny anger at each other as they reveal the truth of who they really are beyond the surface.

It will be presented at the downstairs theatre at 2^nd Story Theatre until Feb. 9. Performances Thursdays at 7 pm, Fridays and Saturday’s at 8 pm, Sundays at 3 pm.

Second Story Theatre 28 Market Street, Warren, RI box office 401-247-4200. www.2ndStoryTheatre.com Tickets are It continues at Second Story Theatre until October 6 in the DownStage Theatre Preview Performance prices are Adult: $20, Regular Performance, Adult: $25, Student (Under 21): $20

“The Big Meal” at the Gamm Theatre

by Richard Pacheco

          

  “The Big Meal”  by Dan Le Franc at the Gamm Theatre sparkles with wonderful performances, deft direction and a terrific set. It starts with the flirting between Nikki a young waitress and Sam and the rest is life and their history together. In many ways it is related to Thornton Wilder’s wonderful “Our Town” and his “The Long Christmas Dinner.” It’s life on speed, rushing through all stages with whirlwind pace, moments compressed and compiled with a keen eye.

            As the play progresses it sometimes gets a little hard to figure out who is who since the eight actors play multiple roles. For example in the beginning the young Nikki and Sam played by Amanda Ruggiero and Joe Short. As they grow older those roles are assumed by Steve Kidd and Karen Carpenter and finally as an older couple by Richard Donelly and Wendy Overly.

Despite all the years compressed in the play the velocity is swift and does not dawdle at all. There is not really a plot, more the ups and downs of ordinary life compiled and compressed into 90 minutes. But those 90 minutes are rich with humor and touching moments in abundance.

There are several times when the children are grown when they come back with different romantic partners, played by the same actor or actress with different names and it proves to be funny and sometimes challenging to keep track just as often in our lives it is difficult to keep track of our children’s significant others from  time to time.

While by the title it may seem like food predominates the play, it is only used as significant moments in this lifetime adventure, when someone is about to die. Those moments end up touching and heartrending, very real and emotional, leaving an impact.

Richard Donnelly plays the older men in the play, at times being Sam’s father to a daughter’s father in law to an older Sam himself. He sports himself with bold self confidence and bravado as these men. So when he transforms into and old man spoon fed by his wife, Overly, it is powerful and heartbreaking. Wendy Overly is magnificent in her various roles as Sam’s mother to later on becoming Nikki, Sam’s wife when he is feeble and on the verge of death needing to be spoon fed. She delivers richly nuanced performances in all the roles.

Amanda Ruggiero and Joe Short play the younger lovers at the beginning of the play, including the children when they get older in the play. They are highly accomplished, delivering the right touches to the sassy flirtations they exchange and the more tender moments. They are very convincing as the other roles as well, truthful and full of energy.

Steve Kidd and Karen Carpenter play the next set of couples in age. They go through a number of trials and transitions, but we never learn what he does for a living or what they really want out of life. Kidd is poised and sincere full of a down to earth dose of humanity that is appealing in its many transmutations. Carpenter is a joy, moving from conflicted wife considering a divorce and split up to mother with her children, either young or older.

Finally, but not least, we get to the two young people who play a variety of children throughout the play, Emeline Easton and Eliott Peters. They are endearing and fun, They deliver sharp performances that were highly enjoyable. Eliot is on the mark when he is particularly obnoxious and petulant teen.

Director Tyler Dobroski , Associate Artistic Director of Trinity Rep, keeps the pacing swift and does not sacrifice the more touching moments, in fact takes the right amount of time with them to leave an impact.

The set design by Michael McGarty is simple and efficient, basically a diner or restaurant used throughout the play. It works well

The cast is strong, full of verve and vitality. There is plenty of humor here and also some fine emotional moments which leave an indelible impact that continues to resonate after you have left the theater. There is richness in this face paced look at life. It is well worth seeing.

            "The Big Meal" runs through Feb. 9 at the Gamm Theatre, 172 Exchange St., Pawtucket. Tickets are $38-$48. Call (401) 723-4266, or visit gammtheatre.org.

“The Little Dog Laughed” at Your Theatre

by Richard Pacheco

            Your Theatre’s current production of the often raunchy, wild and wooly romp of a production of Douglas Carter Beane’s “The Little Dog Laughed” is sassy, smart and full of fun. Fast moving, it is often outrageous in its humor, loaded with sexual overtones and sparkling with energy. This satire is smart and funny at times down and dirty.
            Beane’s works include the screenplay of “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar,” and several plays including “The Country Club” and “The Little Dog Laughed,” which was nominated for the 2007 Tony Award for Best Play and “As Bees in Honey Drown”, which ran at New York's Lucille Lortel Theatre in 1997. Beane often writes works with sophisticated, "drawing room" humor. This play was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play and Julie White won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her performance. The 2007 Theatre World Award was presented to Johnny Galecki. The title is a reference to the fictional short story written by Arturo Bandini in John Fante's Ask The Dust. The same title is also used for a fictional play that appears in Agatha Christie's Three Act Tragedy.
            It is all propelled forward by the efforts of the agent, Diane, a deft mixture between the Wicked Witch of the West and a fairy godmother. She is the epitome of the Hollywood agent, conniving, determined, at times unscrupulous to get what she wants—and her ten percent out of it. She is in New York to buy the rights to a play that will make her working actor client into a big time Hollywood star. Her wit stings and sings at the same time. She is reminiscent of Diana in “Network,” a cold calculating heart and manipulative mind.
            Her client, the actor Mitchell, is a closeted gay actor who strives to be a matinee idol, He strives to keep his sexual preferences secret. All this goes to hell when he takes up with a rent boy, male prostitute, Alex, in New York. Diane has secured the film rights to a play in which the lead male character is gay. And as she observes: "If a perceived straight actor portrays a gay role in a feature film, it's noble, it's a stretch. It's the pretty lady putting on a fake nose and winning an Oscar." Both Mitchell and Alex insist they are not gay, no matter what. Alex has an erstwhile “girlfriend”, more a friend with occasional benefits, Ellen. There are more twists and turns in this quagmire of mistake and denied sexual identity.
            Chris Bailey is the methodical and calculating Diane, a woman is not above or below anything to achieve her goals, no matter what it takes. Bailey is a delight in the role, managing to make the biting edge sharp while maintaining its often viscous humor.
            Ray Almeida Jr. is Mitchell, the actor in crisis over the conflict of his true sexual identity and his desire to be a matinee movie star. His ego as aspiring matinee ego does constant battle with his sexual desires for Alex. Almeida is excellent as the actor with ego and sexual desires which contradict them. He delivers the elements of expanding ego with deft touches and finds his elements of sexual attraction with sincerity and attention to detail.
            Tyler Rowe is Alex, the sweet smart hustler, the rent boy. Her is genuinely conflicted and somewhat a sentimental character. Rowe is admirable as Alex, managing to muster a combination of earnestness and flair as he wriggles through the complex convolutions of his relationship with both Ellen and Mitchell. Underneath it all, he has an integrity despite his lifestyle as a hustler, there is an underlying honesty which is both revealing and engaging.
            Caroline Paradis is Ellen, the erstwhile girlfriend/friend of Alex.  Ellen is rebounding from an affair with an older man and ends up with her friend, soon to become friend with benefits, Alex. Ellen might be reading too much into this affair and her dreams may prove stilted and out of whack with reality as it stands. Paradis is wonderful in the role, offering a tantalizing balance between self assured and insecure with a keen bland of the two for a complex character.
            Director Robin Richard keeps the pace fast, and the zingers on target. He extracts the best from his cast who have a good chemistry together.
            It will be presented again at Your Theatre on Jan. 23, 24, 25 at 8 pm and Jan. 26 at 2 pm. at Your Theatre, 136 Rivet Street, New Bedford, MA. Tickets $15 all performances.

“God of Carnage” at Theatre One

by Richard Pacheco

            Yasmina Reza’s acclaimed dark comedy, “God of Carnage” catapults to life at Theatre One’s vigorous and very funny production at the Abbey Theatre in Middleboro. Sparked by a strong cast and excellent script the play merrily rambles along, growing darker and funnier as it goes. It won the Tony Award for best play in 2009.

Before the play begins, two 11-year-old children, Benjamin and Henry, get involved in argument because Benjamin refuses to let Henry join his 'gang'. Benjamin knocks out two of Henry 's teeth with a stick. That night, in the Novak apartment in Brooklyn, the parents of both children meet to discuss the matter. They are determined to be civilized about it all, very mature and intelligent. They want to be the epitome of restraint and self control. It is a noble goal which soon goes awry and gradually descends into a vehement nastiness and disarray, turning both sets of parents into petulant children, who spew ill temper and meanness despite their good intentions at the beginning of the meeting.

Benjamin’s father, Alan is a lawyer who is never off his mobile phone. Benjamin's mother, Annette is in "wealth management" (her husband's wealth, to be precise), and consistently wears good shoes. Henry's father, is a self-made wholesaler with an unwell mother. Michael's wife, Veronica is writing a book about Darfur.

As the evening goes on, the meeting degenerates into the four getting into irrational arguments, and their discussion falls into the loaded topics of misogyny, racial prejudice and homophobia. One of the central dramatic moments of the play occurs when Annette vomits onstage, all over the coffee table and books.

In 1987 Reza wrote “Conversations after a Burial”, which won the Molière Award, the French equivalent of the Laurence Olivier Award or the Tony Award, for Best Author. The North American debut premiered in February 2013 at Players By The Sea in Jacksonville Beach Florida. Holly Gutshall & Joe Schwarz directed; with Set Design by Anne Roberts. The cast for this US debut was Kevin Bodge, Paul Carelli, Karen Overstreet, Dave Gowan, Holly Gutshall and Olivia Gowan Snell. Reza translated Polanski's stage version of Kafka's Metamorphosis in the late 1980s. Her second play, “Winter Crossing”, won the 1990 Molière Award for Best Fringe Production, and her next play, “The Unexpected Man,” enjoyed successful productions in England, France, Scandinavia, Germany and New York. In 1995, “Art” premiered in Paris and went on to win the Molière Award for Best Author. Since then it has been produced worldwide and translated and performed in over 30 languages.

In the midst of their meeting rum eventually replaces coffee. And so beings the disintegration from the spouses as respective confederates,  poised to defend to realizing each is on their own and basically alone. Yet in the midst of this carnage there are small acts of kindness and helpfulness to make it more humane.

Robert Duquette is Alan, a lawyer with a cell phone glued to his ear in the midst of a major crisis with his main client, a giant pharmaceutical company. He is only partial attentive to the crisis at hand brought about by the conflict of his son and the other boy. He can be distracted and aloof to all around him, his wife included and at times nasty and downright cruel. Duquette delivers a fine performance, full of nuance and skill.  He has a keen sense of comic timing which he uses to advantage throughout the play.

Dawn Moquin is Annette, Alan’s wife. Whose major job in life is managing her husband’s wealth and their son, both of which seems in dire straits presently. She is more interested in excellent shoes than anything else, and struggles to maintain her composure in a difficult and strenuous situation.  Moquin is delightful as she struggles to come to terms with what her son has done and the self-righteousness of her neighbors, particularly the wife, Veronica. Her growing lack of composure, her comic descent from the epitome of civility into illness and volatile rage is a wonder to watch, fun to behold. Her nausea prone moments end up being very funny.

Omer Courcy is Michael, the wholesaler, who seems down to earth and is not always fond of his wife’s posturing and attitude. His mother is ill and constantly calls with some new question which little by little enrages him in the mist of the crisis he faces in his home with the neighbors. Courcy is a delight as the man caught up in a situation he hates and would rather avoid altogether, but cannot thanks to his wife’s unrelenting determination. He has a fine comic timing and some of his expressions are priceless.  When he defends his tossing out the hamster and takes a hair dryer to some wet arts books, he is hilarious. Watching him go through his transformations, is pure fun.

Linda Monchik is Veronica, a woman who is proud of her ability to remain rational, or at least her version of it and proud of her commitment to creating a better world and her book on Darfur. She is wired tight and on the verge of slipping over the edge into nastiness and ill temper. Monchik is right on the mark with her super proper, uptight crusader for a better world. When she loses it, Monchik is a delight, hilarious and a good time with her quirks and fine comic timing.

The chemistry between the cast is excellent, with nice touches along the way that make things more vivid and funny.

These wonderful cast members are deftly directed by Peg Holzemer, who keeps the dark humor ably on track and the laughs coming with perfect timing. She also designed the set, which is very effective.

It is a play loaded with at times painful laughs, full of energy, propelled by a sold cast and strong direction. If you like your humor dark, always funny, sometimes gritty, running over a wide range of topics, this is the play for you. This comic gallop is a mery ride indeed. It runs without intermission at about 90 minutes or so.

It continues at Alley Theatre 133 Center Street Middleboro. Jan 18, 19, 24, 25 at 7:30pm Sunday Jan 28 at 2pm.  Tickets at the Door “Cash Only” Students & Seniors $15 Gen $18 Info 1-617-840-1490