Review: Suburbia
I had the pleasure a few weekends ago of going to see the Ghostlight Theater Company production of SubUrbia at the Amato Theatre in Milford, NH.
SubUrbia is sort of an interesting commentary on how a lot of young people view the world in which we live. Set in front of a convenience store (the set for which is an actual quick-stop style corner store with stocked shelves and a cash register!) the story follows a few days in the life of a loose group of friends as they deal with their desires and the burdens of living in small-town America.
The struggling couple, the recovering under-aged drinker, the funny-guy jock, the young and disillusioned military man, the earnest immigrant family all smack of people we know, in some cases someone we know better than anyone else. About the only person hard to relate to is “Pony”, the now-rock star, the one who “made it.” A visit from Pony (rolling up in an overblown limo) stirs up emotions ranging from distaste to jealously to hero-worship, creating the undertone that carries the play through to an explosive finish. Pony represents everything that irks us about the new generation of fame-based affluence. His persona comes off as incredibly trite, playing the sentimental card since the cynical haze of the 90’s has worn so thin for us.
One would be hard-pressed to pick a “stand-out” member of the cast. Each player carried their own weight, and formed a true-to-life picture of friendship and suburban malaise in middle America. “Tim” (played by John Kneeland) is surly at best, and frightening at his worst. In the interest of full disclosure.. John is my co-worker’s son, but there is no favoritism when I say the delivery of his role was dynamic, and at times downright unnerving. Behind the scenes, John is the nicest kid you’d ever want to meet: gracious, easy-going and funny. Put a prop beer in his hand, and a script in his head, and you’d never recognize him. He makes Dr. House look just plain cuddly.
Where “Tim” scares the hell out of us, “Buff” (played by DJ Spinelli) is the court jester of the group. Caffeine-and-Oreo fueled, ripped to shreds in a wife-beater shirt and Timberland boots, Buff is the quintessential comic relief, constantly riffing on beer, grass, women, and laymen’s politics. Buff takes the edge off of the tension provided by Tim and the rest of the cast by engaging in “anything for a laugh” antics, up to and including dry-humping the ice-cooler in a drastic display of sexual tension and upper-body strength. He is the prankster, the kid we all adored in school, but now out of the small-pond limelight, he finds himself good for little else but amusement. Buff is the Fool of the tarot deck, eternally optimistic and wide-eyed, and that’s why we love him so much.
Some of “SubUrbia” can be hard to take. A performance art diatribe on the part of “Sooze” played by (Taryn Cagnina) was a bit discomforting, (if only because I had brought my mom to the play.) The piece however, illustrated how young artists and thinkers are pushing boundaries far beyond what would have happened even ten years ago, if only to be heard in a time that Warren Ellis describes as “The last days of the Roman Empire.” In a world where very little is taboo, one must step far outside of the social norm to register on the Richter scale. Sooze does this quite well, and it speaks to her utmost desire to break out of her suburban life entirely.
All of these cliches and trivialities, as entertaining as they are, are reduced to ashes in the final grim moments of the play. The ending renders all social roles and prejudices useless, and leaves the audience with the stark realization that the masks we wear are largely hollow monuments.
This effect could not have been carried so well without the support of an exemplary cast. Being a frequenter of the Merrimack Rep and other local playhouses, I could not have been more impressed by the show put on by the group. A great cast can make one feel as though they are not watching a play but living for a time in a world not their own, and this cast accomplished this feat with grace.
This fall, we will be treated once again to some fine performances by Ghostlight when “Three Wise Men” premiers at the Ghostlight, written by John Kneeland. If John’s writing skills are commensurate with his acting skills, we’re in for a real treat.
