There’s
a simple reason why most of us Americans are overweight. We love sugar, fat and
salt, and when we get enough of those staples mixed into our meals, we turn out
fat…and happy.
The
same rule holds true for theatrical entertainments, as is shown in Superior Donuts by TracyLetts, now at
Dobama Theatre. Letts, who crafted the provocative and borderline repellant August: Osage County has in this
instance whipped up a froth of theatrical meringue that audiences will happily
wolf down.
It’s
got everything: A crotchety, depressed old white guy in Chicago, Arthur
Przybyszewski, who becomes pals with a funny, outgoing young African-American
dude, Franco Wicks, who is a budding novelist. Plus, there’s an ensemble of
quirky characters. How quirky? How about a black cop who is a Star Trek groupie, a homeless woman who is
stockpiling pearls of wisdom in her battered shopping bag, and an Irish bookie
who comes across like a heart-warming Father Flanagan until an off-stage
incident.
Before
the dissection continues, let’s make one thing perfectly clear: This production
directed by Nathan Motta is stellar in all ways. One could hardly wish for a
better cast, or better pacing, and the production design is spot-on in every
aspect. One just wishes all this fine effort were in service of a more challenging
script.
Indeed,
SupDo is straining so hard to please
someone (the audience? the citizens of Chicago, which is Letts’ hometown? both?)
that you can see the veins on the playwright’s neck bulging. Franco (a
monumentally likable Robert Hunter) is a young man who is so hot-wired for
success he overwhelms the dour owner of the play’s titular shop. Sure, it’s a
scuzzy hole-in-the-wall in a poor neighborhood of Chi-town, but Franco is
brimming with innovative ideas. And even though Arthur seems a dead man walking
(as he helpfully explains, “The core of the Polish character is hopelessness”),
Arthur hires Franco to work in the shop.
Their
inevitable buddy-movie bonding is accented by appearances of neighborhood
eccentrics. Max, the Russian owner of a store next door, is always trying to
encourage Arthur to sell his store so Max can increase his holdings on the
street. Alan Byrne, who took over the role late in rehearsals, is a breezy riot
as Max and earns many of the show’s biggest laughs.
Also
excellent in smaller roles are John Busser as the bookie Luther Flynn, Mary
Jane Nottage as the homeless woman Lady Boyle, and LaShawn Little as James
Bailey, the cop who dresses up in Starship Enterprise drag. It’s not their
fault that Luther is written a bit too sweet, Lady is written way too wise and
James doesn’t have enough words to register credibly as police officer or a
Trekkie.
As
for Arthur, Joel Hammer is convincing as a sour old guy living out his nasty
little life amidst the icing and sprinkles that make up his day. But Hammer is
saddled with several soliloquies—spotlighted asides to the audience meant to
flesh out Arthur’s biography and give him depth. Unfortunately, these
interludes completely fracture the momentum of the play. It seems a lazy way to
build a character (let’s just stop the play and read a Wikipedia entry!), and
even an actor with Hammer’s skills can’t make it work.
Yes,
some darkness is finally introduced into this happy collection of folks, and
thank God for that. Also, a variety of political and sociological issues are
brought up, including the Vietnam War, draft dodgers, immigrants, the homeless,
racial prejudice. But these touches are too glancing and oblique to be taken
seriously.
That
said, you will enjoy Superior Donuts
because Letts knows how to craft some very funny lines, and the Dobama
production is just as eager to please as the script. But it could have been so
much better if only Letts had brought more of Osage County to this particular corner of Cook County.
Superior
Donuts
Through
May 24 at Dobama Theatre, 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, 216-932-3396.
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