Between Riverside and Crazy
Stephen
Adly Guirgis
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| Carl Lumbly, Lakin Valdez & Samuel Ray Gates |
The fact
the entire suburban flat rolls back and forth a few feet between the ten scenes
gives us a good clue that there is plenty of shifting about to occur in the
characters and stories on this American Conservatory Theatre stage. Those who populate the plays of Stephen Adly Guirgis
tend to bring secrets and surprises that shake and usually destroy our initial
impressions, and we will soon discover that the folks in his 2015 Pulitzer
Prize-winning Between Riverside and
Crazy are to a person
not quite who we may think they are upon our first meeting them. Speaking in rich, graphic language brimming
full of expletives and elegance and knit together in street-smart poetry, they each
eventually reveal past lives, current motivations, and dreams of futures that
are not always immediately forthcoming. Mr.
Guirgis’ latest offering in his long line of impressive works (Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, Our Lady of 121st Street, The Mother F**ker
with the Hat to name
a few) touches on a wide range of issues filling every current newspaper, talk
show, and online discussion group.
Racial tensions, the plight of the young African American male, rising
distrust of police and City Hall, the life and plight of immigrants in America,
marital impropriety, adult children who return home to live, issues of aging
including displacement from rent-controlled housing, and more all work their
way into this mixture of dark comedy and social, family drama.
Limping
painfully due to a hip full of old bullet wounds, ex-cop Walter Washington has
spent many years pursuing with no luck a multi-million-dollar suit against the
city’s police department in retaliation for the white officer who shot him
while Walter was off-duty at a local bar.
Living with him are his adult, ex-con son Junior as well as Junior’s skimpily
clad and latest girlfriend Lulu and his Nuyorican (New York/Puerto Rican)
friend Oswaldo. None of the three pay
room or board, and all repeatedly duck out of their promises to walk the dog --
much to Walter’s profaned exasperation.
Tensions clearly exist between Junior and his Pops while the other two
appear genuinely attached to the crusty old man they now call ‘Dad.’ Walter’s former partner, now best friend, NYPD
Detective Audrey O’Connor, arrives to visit, to announce her engagement to
Lieutenant Dave Caro (and show off her $30K wedding ring he bought with poker
winnings), and to persuade Walter to take a final offer from the City to settle
his suit. Of course, the offer is only a
fraction of what Walter feels he deserves; and the mounting threats by the two
cops of what might happen if he does not sign set the scene for old skeletons
to start rattling in their cages and then to break out in full fury.
Carl
Lumbly’s Walter is cantankerous, crusty, and crude while also equally being
vulnerable, funny, and endearing. In his
stiff shoulders and set jaw we see an unbending stubbornness; and by his glare
that pierces its target like an arrow, we see into his drive for revenge. But this Walter also has heart, generosity,
and an ability to forgive; and Mr. Lumbly seamlessly swings the moods and
manners of Walter to lay before us a complex man whose journey finally to his
dream takes him from unexpected sexual bliss to the brink of death and on to a
paradise far away from his New York flat.
Gabriel
Marin as Lieutenant Dave Caro matches and may even exceed Walter in showing a
wide range of emotional states and stances.
Wide smiles and gushy respect with eyes that dote on the elder cop give
way to voice with a growing edge, smirks and upturned brow, and slurred words
from too much drinking that begin to sting with insults directed toward both
his stunned fiancé (the always excellent-in-any-role Stacy Ross) and the
unbending, increasingly angry Walter.
The good cop totally gives way to the bad cop as Mr. Marin’s Caro
increases his threats to get Walter to sign the agreement; and the viciousness
shown and the depth of dislike that emerges makes this portrayal mesmerizing as
well as troubling to behold.
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| Carl Lumbly & Catherine Castellanos |
All other
cast members (Elia Monte-Brown as Lulu, Samuel Ray Gates as Junior, Lakin
Valdez as Oswaldo) bring depth and nuance to their parts as well, resulting in
an ensemble that rides together in tight, well-paced fashion the roller coaster
of the story’s emotional ups and downs (thanks to outstanding direction by
Irene Lewis). Catherine Castellanos
particularly stands out as the Church Lady who pays a visit to brighten up
Walter’s day and to entice him to ingest a holy wafer. She has some secret skills from a past life
that are not at all obvious from her Brazilian, broken-English chatter. How she lures Walter to communion, ecstasy,
and almost the eternal hereafter becomes the evening’s showstopper.
Before the
final curtain, we realize that Mr. Guirgis has once again created a gem that
this cast and this production have turned into rich treasure to behold. We have laughed, gasped, been repulsed, maybe
shocked, and probably come close to a tear or two as we have watched one man
doggedly pursue a dream that at times becomes his, and all others,’ nightmare.
Rating: 5
E’s
Between Riverside and Crazy
continues on the
Geary Stage of the American Conservatory Theatre through September 27,
2015. Tickets are available at http://www.act-sf.org/home/box_office/1516_season/between_riverside_and_crazy.html or by calling the box office at 415.749.2228.
Photos by Kevin Berne
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