Brooklyn Boy

BROOKLYN BOY by Donald Margulies; Directed by Phoebe Moyers. Ross Valley Players, Ross Valley Players Barn Theatre, Marin Art & Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. at Lagunitas, Ross, CA. 415-456-9555 or www.rossvalleyplayers.com. Through June 15, 2008

CAST: Matthew Lai as Eric Weiss, Safiya Arnaout as Melanie Fine, Timothy Beagley as Ira Zimmer, Jerry Jacob as Manny Weiss, Allison Porto-Yale as Alison, Joseph Rende as Tyler Shaw and Robin Steeves as Nina

MOMMA’S BOY MAKES GOOD?

If you are a successful writer who grew up as a bright Jewish boy in Brooklyn, why not write about how that affects your present life? Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies (“Dinner with Friends”) has done just that in his play BROOKLYN BOY. The author would surely have been a momma’s boy. It is just the way it is in matriarchal households. Oddly, Momma’s influence is not mentioned until the last scene, which seems artificially “tacked on” to conclude the play.

Margulies’ alter ego, protagonist Eric Weiss (Matthew Lai), has returned to Brooklyn to visit his father, Manny (Jerry Jacob), who has terminal cancer. He brings to the hospital room a copy of his semi-autobiographical book titled “Brooklyn Boy” that has made the bestseller list. Its dedication reads “for mother and father.” “What? You couldn’t have put our names in it?” With that simple question, Margulies brilliantly introduces and carries on the father/son animosity. That animosity becomes more real by the crafty under played stage presence of Jerry Jacobs who almost steals the scene, even though he never leaves his hospital bed.

Weiss is on stage during the entire episodic six-scene play and director Moyer keeps the story line flowing using simplified set changes with appropriate musical bridges. This format smoothly and logically brings the other characters into the mix while emphasizing how separate individuals react to fame and fortune still keeping an aura of universality to the writing. Author Margulies would certainly be pleased by the multi-faceted performance of Matthew Lai in the role of his alter ego.

Next up is pushy Ira Zimmer (Timothy Beagley) who, through family circumstances, has been unable to escape the Brooklyn environs. His intellectual ambitions were thwarted but he has adapted with resignation by embracing Judaism and questions why Weiss has abandoned the Faith. Subtly, Ira’s response is resentment expressed in the unspoken words, “Why not me?” Audience favorite Beagley dominates the scene as Weiss attempts to explain that you can’t go home again.

Envy and jealousy become the key words when he returns to his living quarters, the apartment of his estranged wife Nina (Robin Steeves). There is a cool welcome. Nina is an unpublished writer and Weiss’s phenomenal skyrocketing career further alienates her. With no possibility of reconciliation, Weiss again cannot go home. Before departing he rummages through the proverbial packed box of personal items to be taken away. Margulies uses this device allowing the couple to share past experiences creating greater understanding of their broken relationship in particular and broken relationships in general.

The fourth scene could stand alone as a one-act play. Why would an attractive young girl, Allison (Allison Porto-Yale), half his age, go to a book signing and end up in his room? The answer is that there are groupies who seek out celebrities, including novelists, just for the thrill of doing it. Weiss is learning there is a dark side to celebrity status. The exuberance of Potro-Yale’s performance keeps Weiss off balance and the audience responds with appreciative applause when she reluctantly is sent away but not before she asks, and receives, a book signing.

Margulies takes a page from Mamet (Speed the Plow). The book has been optioned for a movie under the guidance of producer Melanie Fine (Safiya Arnaout). There is a sharp change of pace suggesting farce with satiric overtones which quickly changes to dead earnest when Melanie suggests the script is “too Jewish” for general audiences offering massive changes in the script. Sadly, Arnaout’s excessive mugging unbalances the relationships. Weiss is further demoralized when the actor Tyler Shaw (Joseph Rende), selected to play the Brooklyn boy, is a hyperactive gentile with bleached hair highlights. Appearances can deceive. Actors become characters completely alien to there own personae and create unexpected thrilling moments. Rende’s transformation from egoist to actor has an inner glow demanding complete attention and bringing tears to the author who races from of the room.

In the final scene, Weiss has lost control of the movie script. He returns to Brooklyn to clean out his deceased father’s apartment. Ira Zimmer unsuccessfully attempts to bring him back into the Jewish faith. Moyer adds a defining directorial touch with Ira’s exit. Eric’s father appears as an apparition explaining that Eric’s bond with his mother excluded him from being “the” father that he always wished to be.

Once again, Ross Valley Players have created a production that demands a visit. With one exception mentioned, the assembled actors under the adept direction of Phoebe Moyer are winners. Running time of 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Courtesy of TheatreWorld Internet Magazine