Through December 23, 2007
Reviewed by Bob Wilcox
As the inaugural production both for the company and for the new Gaslight Theater, the St. Louis Actors' Studio's staging of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance left some theatregoers puzzled by this tale of a nameless fear that drives a couple from their home to find shelter with friends. But the Albee play is clarity itself compared to what's going on in the Actors' Studio's current production.
Much of Greetings! justifies the description of playwright Tom Dudzick as the Catholic Neil Simon. When young New York advertising copywriter Andy Gorski takes his Jewish atheist actress girlfriend home to Pittsburgh at Christmas to meet his devoutly Catholic parents - a grumpy, sour, grievously disappointed father and a long-suffering mother - the predictable jokes flow, written with the flair of Simon, though the predictable arguments about religion grow tedious at times.
But Andy also has a developmentally challenged younger brother, whose command of the English language extends to only two phrases. Just as the increasingly uncomfortable relationship between devoutly Catholic parents and Jewish atheist girlfriend comes to a boil, brother Mickey goes into a trance and emerges as someone named Lucius, who not only speaks precisely phrased English with an extensive vocabulary, but does it with a British accent. Lucius speaks of previous incarnations, for himself and for others present, especially the Jewish atheist girlfriend, and hints at extraterrestrial possibilities as well. And he does resolve the family's problems and the play's plot - father mellows, everyone accepts everyone else, including Jewish atheist girlfriend, who has second thoughts about the atheist part.
I like fantasy as much as anybody. But I like it to be grounded in something that relates it to life as I know it. Playwright Dudzick doesn't bother to give us any explanation, fantastic or otherwise, for Lucius's sudden appearance in Mickey. What is the point? Deus ex Mickey? So we're left with a well-crafted, amusing play, appropriate for the season, interrupted by a sudden eruption of a meaningless mystery - a Christmas miracle, I guess. So what?
Christopher Hickey does a terrific job of making both Mickey and Lucius credible within the play. You know that there must be something lovable in the father when John Contini plays him, rough-tongued though he is most of the time. Both warmth and anguish emerge from Sara Renschen's quiet, ethereal beauty as the girlfriend. Ruth Heyman gives depth and reality to the stereotypical patient wife and mother, and Tyler Vickers, as Andy, somehow makes his rather flat vocal delivery vibrate with the energy and enthusiasm of his whole performance.
Though the Actors' Studio has yet to solve all the problems presented by the Gaslight Theater's tight space, this production is in experienced hands - direction by Milt Zoth, set (with some interesting solutions) and lights by Patrick Huber, costumes by Sara Renschen, sound by Robin Weatherall. Greetings! is pleasant enough. But if you go, would you explain Lucius to me, please? It runs through December 23, 2007. Phone 314-458-2978 for tickets.
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