by dick kerekes dickkerekes@yahoo.com
Players by the Sea opened their 2nd show of the Studio Theatre season with Jeff Baron’s Visiting Mr. Green. Let me warn you from the get go, that the plays in the studio or black box theatre only run for two weekends, and since there are less than 100 seats available, they usually sell out. If you want to see the current show, you should call immediately at 249-2022 to reserve seats. It closes on the 20th.
Visiting Mr. Green is probably a play you are not familiar with, but it has been tremendously successful. It has been translated into 22 languages and received Best Play awards in Israel, Greece, Turkey and Germany.
The plot in this drama/comedy concerns Ross Gardiner (Dustin Whitehead), a 20ish American Express executive, who is forced by a court order to visit 86-year-old Mr. Green (Fritz Rienhardt) once a week after nearly hitting this man with his car.
The initial community service visits are hostile, as Mr. Green is recently widowed and set in his ways with outdated ideas.
Green was married 59 years, and lived most of those years in an apartment over a dry cleaners where he once worked until he became ill. His wife cleaned, cooked and did everything, so without her, Green is lost, lonely and bitter.
Their friendship gradually ignites by the two men’s shared Jewish heritage. Their relationship is strained and almost ended at the end of Act I, when Ross reveals that he is not married because he is gay. Mr. Green is extremely devout and cannot accept homosexuality.
In Act II we learn that Mr. Green has a secret in his past that shapes the direction of the play to what could be considered a happy ending.
This play was directed by Jason Collins, who has established himself as very good director with two plays in two years. Last year his Keely and Du won an award for best studio performance and best ensemble. I think this one is a winner as well.
The acting of this two-man cast is excellent. Dustin Whitehead is perfect as Ross. Whitehead has tremendous charisma and rapport with the audience, and when he mentions he is gay, we are as surprised as Mr. Green, but certainly more sympathetic.
I have been enjoying Fritz Reinhardt as an actor since the l960s and, in fact, was in a melodrama with him at the Woman’s Club years and years ago. Reinhardt, with his real German accent, was also perfect for the role of the Jewish refugee who never fit into the American way of life and never made an attempt to do so. Fritz made me feel sorry for this character at first, but his misery, lack of friends, and loneliness were mainly the product of his attitude and lack of any attempt to adapt to life in the USA.
Anne Roberts designed the stark, run- down New York apartment with its worn paint walls and lousy plumbing. Lighting Designer Ryan Maloney did some interesting designs with spotlights isolating locations and Mr. Green in poignant moments.
If I found any fault with the play, it is with the music used for the many scene changes (Ross made many visits and some were very short in length). Director Collins used some kind of jazz music, mostly instrumental but some with lyrics. I did not recognize any of it, and felt it was too upbeat and not in the style of either of the characters. I personally think some Yiddish music would be more appropriate.
This was a moving evening of theatre, and although the subject seems somber, there were a lot of humorous moments in the encounters between these two men. Great acting, great direction, great show. Bravo.
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