Stuff matters in timely take on class warfare
David Lindsay-abaire’s Good People delights with smart laughs, sharp acting
Bingo! Centaur Theatre has hit a winning number with David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People, directed by Roy Surette.
Good People is a smoothly crafted play about the complex realities of race and class in modern America and the myth of equal opportunity for all.
Following the re-election of President Barack Obama on Tuesday night, rightwing pundit Bill O’Reilly commented on Fox TV: “The white establishment is now the minority. The voters, many of them, feel that the economic system is stacked against them and they want stuff.” The video clip rapidly became one of the most popular targets of ridicule by latenight comedians.
O’Reilly’s words came to mind at the opening of Good People at Centaur Theatre on Thursday night. Lindsay-Abaire’s play contrasts people who “want stuff ” (in this case, white, workingclass folk who live in a Boston Irish neighbourhood) with the establishment (represented by a wealthy interracial couple).
Good People is in some ways reminiscent of the early works of Montreal playwright David Fennario. Lindsay-Abaire’s hard-luck characters, like Fennario’s, are earthy, familiar and funny, the purveyors of vivid anec- dotes and smart cracks.
The central character, Margaret (Johanna Nutter), is a South Boston single mother who lives with her adult, mentally handicapped daughter. In the first scene, we see Margaret getting fired from her job at the local dollar store by a young man named Stevie (Karl Graboshas), whom she has known since he was a kid.
Later, while serving tea to her landlady Dottie (Sandy Ferguson) and tough-talking buddy Jean (Catherine Lemieux), Margaret ponders her options. Jean has recently run into one of their former Southie friends who has made good as a doctor (Paul Hopkins), and suggests that Margaret look him up in hopes of finding a new job. Initially resistant to the idea, Margaret soon finds herself visiting Mike (whom she once dated) in his posh doctor’s office, recalling old times. He swears he can’t help her directly, but invites her to his birthday party.
When the invitation is withdrawn, via a phone call Margaret receives while playing bingo, she doubts the excuse that his daughter is sick. Egged on by Jean, she decides to crash, only to find that he had been telling the truth. Up at the Chestnut Hill mansion, a polite three-way conversation over wine and gourmet cheese soon escalates into fierce emotional warfare between Margaret, Mike and Mike’s young African-Amer- ican wife, Kate (Kim Nelson), who learns some disturbing things about her husband’s past. This riveting meltdown of the Edward Albee kind tests the mettle of the actors involved.
Nutter, best known for her one-woman show My Pregnant Brother, conquers the moment with her natural, convincingly Southie delivery, while the other two (burdened with privilege) ably hold their own. There’s scant sympathy for a cad revealed as a former thug. Nelson scores with her children’s-rights speech, which tests Margaret’s claim to being “good,” but her character lacks backstory.
In this working-classfriendly play, it’s Lemieux, as the butchy, streetwise Jean, who effectively steals the show. And Ferguson, as the dotty Dottie, isn’t far behind on triggering the laughs. Graboshas turns in a solid, earnest performance as the hard-working Stevie.
Director Surette has once again proved himself a master of narrative and visual detail, while eliciting sharp performances. The fluent locale shifts of John C. Dinning’s realistic set aptly reflect the economic disparities of the characters. Good People is way better than good.
Good People, by David Lindsay-Abaire, continues until Dec. 9 at Centaur Theatre, 453 St. François Xavier St. Call 514-288-3161 or visit www.centaurtheatre.com.