Elsewhere
Written by Robert Tenges
Directed by Adam Webster
at Side Project Theatre, 1439 W. Jarvis (map)
thru April 21 | tickets: $15-$20 | more info
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Loneliness binds during a turbulent time
Side Project Theatre presents
Elsewhere
Review by Joy Campbell
Elsewhere, the title of Robert Tenges’s new play, could easily refer to the former identities of the show’s characters. Each has experienced a loss — father, husband, son – changing their identity and requiring of them a new one, which they struggle to forge in the turbulent year of 1969.
Long widowed, Monica (Shawna Tucker) lives with her teenage son, Adam (Charles Askenaizer). She struggles with the fear of losing Adam to the draft when he comes of age, but also must face being shut out of Adam’s life by the growing distance he puts between them as he embarks on his first physical relationship with a girl. Monica considers an affair with her divorced boss, Walter, (played by a delightfully creepy Don Hall). Monica’s new best friend Bonnie (Lucinda Johnston) has her own worries in an alcoholic husband and a son drafted into the Vietnam War. In the throes of first love, Adam is so besotted by his girlfriend Dana (a wonderfully natural and sweet Amanda Lipinksi) that he shuts out his mother and the guidance counselor (Andy Hager) who had been his mentor.
What everyone has in common is loneliness; behind each carefully constructed facade lies a vulnerable person mourning alone and struggling to create a new existence in the shadow of the loss that has come to define them.
The cast is outstanding. Tucker plays Monica as wholly believable, sad, and tired without coming across as self-indulgent. She compensates for her wounds by reaching out to others and burying herself in activity. As Adam, Charles Askenaizer does a beautiful job of balancing the surly teenager struggling towards manhood with the insecure little boy made vulnerable by love. Lucinda Johnston’s Bonnie is all piss and vinegar, a hilarious spitfire of bravado who is all the more poignant in the painful truths she reveals. As Walter, Don Hall has us squirming with his oily snake-charmer come-ons, until we see that beneath it all he’s as lost and unsure as anyone else. Andy Hager has a small role as Guthrie, Adam’s guidance counselor, but he commands our attention in every scene. We’ve all known a Guthrie, an easily overlooked nebbish who shows us the folly of our arrogance when we realize his lack of aggressiveness is not from weakness but a quiet strength of character. Dana, the girl “with a lot of friends” could be the pretty fast-girl stereotype, but Lipinksi plays her with a sweetness and maturity that shows us why a 17-year-old boy would be smitten by her.
The show is performed as a series of blackouts, with great period music accompanying the scene changes. While each scene is well paced and the energy is great, this device wears thin after awhile; I wanted to see more story and character development, more sustained action and tension. Also, a lot of the progression takes place via two-person conversations, through discussions and descriptions rather than through actual events, which lessens the impact. The story could also use more of an arc – plots lines are established, but for the most part come to no real dramatic head; with an expanded story and more room for character development, Tenges’s strong writing and ear for dialog would be done greater justice, and characters would blossom. In Dana and Walter in particular we sense that there’s much more than meets the eye, and it would be nice to see them fleshed out along with the others, who seem too easily defined by single events in their lives.
While the show isn’t perfect, it is, however, entertaining. Adam Webster’s direction makes good use of the small space, and the performances are spot-on. We do care about each of the characters, so it’s a kind of compliment that the show’s main flaw is that we don’t get to know them better.
Rating: ★★★
Elsewhere continues through April 21st at Side Project Theatre, 1439 W. Jarvis (map), with performances Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays/Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays 7pm. Tickets are $15-$20, and are available by phone (773-340-0140) or online through BrownPaperTickets.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at TheSideProject.net. (Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission)
Photos by Susan McMillen
artists
cast
Shawna Tucker (Monica), Charles Askenaizer (Adam), Amanda Lipinski (Dana), Lucinda Johnston (Bonnie), Andy Hager (Guthrie), Don Hall (Walter), Kevin Gladish (Understudy: Walter/Guthrie)
behind the scenes
Adam Webster (director); Rebecca Butler (stage manager); Henry Behel (set and props designer); Matt Willis (sound design); Callie Edwards (assistant director); Michael Nardulli (lighting design); Allison M. Smith (costume design); Michael Manocchio (dramaturg); Renee Witherwax (graphic design, lobby display); Brian Ruby (production coordinator), Susan McMillen (photos)
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