Theater review: Chapter Two

by Mark-Brian Sonna of John Garcia's The Column

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Chapter Two, Neil Simon's semi-autobiographical play, is receiving what is perhaps the definitive treatment of this masterful work. Contemporary Theatre of Dallas has assembled a production of this classic play that outshines almost any other theatre production I've seen as of late.

Chapter Two interweaves the lives of four people that are seriously flawed: George Schneider is a man who has lost his wife recently; Jennie Malone hasn't come to terms from her disastrous divorce; Leo Schneider, George's brother, is a philandering husband; Faye Medwick is a wife trapped in a sexless marriage. Faye and Leo arrange for George and Jennie to meet, thinking it will bring both newly single people out of their funk. What they don't anticipate is that they will fall in love so quickly that they get married merely two weeks later. In the meantime, Faye and Leo end up having an affair.

There is much comic potential in this set up and Neil Simon is in top form delivering one liners that slay the audience. Where many Simon plays fail is in the delivery of the lines. It's tempting for actors to deliver the lines with a punch heightening the zaniness of the repartee, but this inevitably sacrifices the emotional connection of the audience to the characters for the play to transcend its obvious set up. What the four actors and the director have done here is perform the play as a serious drama. The net result is that the play goes from being funny to devastatingly comical. I have not laughed this much while crying at the same time. When done right Simon rivals Ibsen, Williams, and O'Neil. There is complexity, subtlety, and while the play is not didactic it tells us as much about the human condition as any play by Chekhov. What could be a fluffy comedy if done wrong becomes a wholly and completely satisfying evening of theatre.

Sue Loncar is luminous as Faye Medwick. She absolutely inhabits her character. She is quirky, desperate, caring -- and frequently all at the same time. Her timing, her phrasing, and her physicality make us believe her and root for her even though her plans to carry on an affair are questionable.

Leo Schneider is played masterfully by Ted Wold. He's the arrogant SOB you love. He gets some of the best lines in the show, yet not once did he ever play them for laughs, he allowed the humor come through naturally. Even when he had to hold for the audience to recover from his observation about marriage and how he wished he could take a break from it, since after all "it's relentless," he never lost character and made the pause seem most natural.

Jennie Malone is the character with the least pizazz yet Marcia Carroll chose to play her as a woman using bravado to masquerade her frailty. Excellent choice. While she's less dynamic, she grounds the play to reality. Jennie is an actress, so it would be tempting to play her with a touch of flamboyancy. I'm very glad Ms. Carroll did not go this route.

Scott Latham plays George Schneider, or I should say is George Schneider. His acting is an absolute revelation. His ache for his departed wife had the audience in tears and a few moments later laughing through those tears, and then back to crying. There are no words to express the magnificent performance, or was it even a performance? He is so real, so palpable, and so flawed, that even though you wish you could hate him for the hurt he's causing others you still love him and feel for him.

The scenic design by Rodney Dobbs was simple and clever. The stage is divided into two apartments. The middle wall would swing back and forth, enlarging each apartment as the scene played out allowing the actors to use nearly the entire stage. What could have felt like two crowded spaces never did. Lindsay Anderson's props truly captured the psychological make-up of each character, a feat unto itself. Cynthia Hestand staged this play quite well. Every moment on the stage was believable. The ottoman which serves as the center piece of the set and falls into both apartments as the middle wall would swing back and forth was never over used and created a few magical moments.

Mark C. Guerra captured the flavor of each character perfectly with his costume designs, and the lighting by Russel K. Dyer was spot on. Richard Frohlic was in charge of the sound design, and I must commend him. Telephones are used extensively in the play and frequently rings come over the loudspeaker, but in this case each phone did ring on cue and on time, and most importantly stopped ringing when picked up every time (a frequent mishap in plays). The musical interludes between scenes captured the feeling of the entire evening perfectly.

This was nearly a flawless production for it was so meticulous and detailed in every way. But there was one moment that I was pulled out of the show completely for it was a glaring oversight: Ted Wold as Leo shows up in one scene shirtless. He has tattoos on his body. He is playing a middle aged Jew. This is a big no-no for Jews (take it from someone who knows), and it was the only time that the illusion of the play and of his character was broken and I became aware that it was an actor portraying a role in a theatre. They need to be covered up.

Chapter Two is definitely a show you will not want to miss. For those of you out there that don't care for Mr. Simon's work because it's frequently performed poorly, you owe it to yourselves to see this show. You will be able to appreciate how powerful and emotionally satisfying his plays can be when done correctly. For those of you who are fans, this is a must-see show.