LATHAM – “Greetings” is a holiday play that is not a typical holiday play. Yes, it takes place on Christmas Eve, there’s a Christmas tree in the living room, and there’s a lot of talk about religion. However, despite the trappings, the play has little to do with the holidays.
Essentially, “Greetings” is a play about self-healing and finding the ability to love oneself in order to love others. This is a play about family relationships that could take place any day of the year.
Though this sounds potentially heavy, “Greetings,” which has survived in regional and community theaters for almost 30 years, is a lighthearted play. Indeed, the production running at Curtain Call Theatre in Latham through December 21, will keep a smile on your face for the entire evening, which runs a bit under two hours, including an intermission.
Playwright Tom Dudzick does broach lofty ideas about kindness and acceptance. He even uses that dreaded theatrical device of “magical-realism” for most of the second act. However, and thankfully, he rarely pontificates. He’d much rather make a point with a quip or a joke.
“Greetings” takes place in Pittsburgh at the home of a devout Catholic couple Emily and Phil Gorski. Phil is a cranky, unhappy man who gave up his dreams of being a professional baseball player when their second son Mickey was born. When it was determined that Mickey was “intellectually challenged,” Phil realized to be a good father he needed to live a stable life. His wife has always blamed herself for her husband having to run a grocery store instead of being a major league pitcher.
On Christmas Eve, their older son Andy, arrives with his new fiancée Randi Stein. Randi is of Jewish heritage, but thinks of herself as an atheist. As we learn, not only does she not believe in God, there is very little of anything she will accept on faith. While Phil and Randi battle, Emily and Andy serve as peacemakers.
Though he has trouble verbalizing his thoughts, Mickey is the center of everyone’s attention. His enthusiastic innocence contrasts him to the rest of the uptight characters. At least in the first act. In the second act, there is an entirely different version of Mickey on stage. The change is both enlightening and feel-good funny.
Dudzick makes a good choice in not lecturing the audience and letting the characters find resolution to their issues through personal reflection. However, the process does make their conversions a little soft. The wisdom they receive in act two is neither profound nor unique and their changes in perception come a little too easy. This deprives the characters of complexity and makes the entire night seem rather simple.
Director Kris Anderson’s clearly understands the strengths and weaknesses of the play. One of the area’s finer actors, he seems an actor’s director. As such, he nurtures clear portrayals from his cast and keeps a nice balance between the comical and the serious.
Where Anderson falters is with group dynamics. There are very little few honest connections between the couples. We like them better as individuals than we do as pairs. Nothing is helped by awkward blocking that puts people who have little to do with a scene in prominent positions. This encourages them to use distracting facial gestures in order to appear interested and involved. It also sets up an uncomfortable visual during an important eavesdropping scene.
The performers do solid work with the mostly one-dimensional characters. Though he’s never a pleasant man, Steve Leifer is able to keep the bitter and closed-minded Phil from seeming too nasty. It helps a lot that the cynic gets most of the funny lines, which Leifer delivers with great comic expertise.
Randi who serves as a foil to Phil, initially seems a breath of fresh air. But as is revealed, the woman has issues of her own. Sarah Wasserbach conquers the woman’s flaws to create a genuine person who appears ready to accept things she cannot control or understand.
Chad Reid as Andy and Susan Dantz as Emily do solid work with underwritten characters as they each bring to the play stable characters to whom the audience can relate.
However, the play succeeds or fails on how much we care about Mickey. Ryan Palmer works a bit too hard in the first act to show that the 26-year old is charming. His eagerness is initially a little uncomfortable, but the choice bears fruit in the second act when the “new” Mickey can be still identified as the “old” Mickey. Overall, Palmer does an excellent job with the demands of the role.
“Greetings” could legitimately be labeled sentimental or contrived. However, any description of this feel-good play would also have to include enjoyable, warm and funny.
“Greetings” at Curtain Call Theatre, Latham. Performances Thursdays thru Sundays until December 21. For tickets and schedule information call 518-877-7529 or go to curtaincalltheatre.com
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
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