Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘Mr. Parker’ a witty take on tragedy.
How do you go on when the intricately constructed world you shared with a 30-year soulmate is suddenly ripped away?
Terrence “Terry” Parker is left behind to grapple with that question in “Mr. Parker,” a Michael McKeever play now having its world premiere at Island City Stage in Wilton Manors.
McKeever, the awardwinning South Florida playwright and co-founder of Miami’s Zoetic Stage, has written a tight, often funny and decidedly moving three-character play. The observant drama centers on a middle-aged writer who is suddenly uncoupled when his photographer husband of six years — and partner for three decades — dies after being hit by a car and, following Terry’s agonizing decision, is taken off life support.
Although the setup may sound glum, “Mr. Parker” is in fact a sharp, observant exploration of learning how to move on after a tragedy.
McKeever is originating the role of Terry, and unsurprisingly, the part fits him like a bespoke suit. He begins the play gently, summoning a deep well of emotion as he sits on the end of the bed in the small Greenwich Village studio apartment that served as his late husband’s studio. His blue eyes glisten in the spotlight as he explains how his life was upended seven months ago, how mourning finally gave way to the need for connection.
Then, suddenly, the lights come up, the cheery sounds of singing fill a tiny bathroom, and a gorgeous naked 28-year-old emerges.
Terry, who will soon turn 54, has that oh-my-God-morning-after feeling. He remembers little about what happened, so little that he keeps calling his handsome pickup “Kevin,” though the guy’s name is actually Justin Groff (Samuel Maya). Although he’s technically back in the game, Terry is as awkward as this chatty hottie, a bartender and Uber driver, is easy.
Soon, a third character enters the fray. Cassandra “Cassie” St. Claire (Margot Moreland) is Terry’s sisterin-law, the woman who ran the business side of her late brother Jeffrey McCabe’s acclaimed career as a nationally prominent photographer.
Cassie is a shark dressed in elegant evening attire, a woman determined to bolster her brother’s legacy with an exhibition at the Whitney Museum, a Type A-plus New Yorker who uses words as weaponry.
Director Michael Leeds gets sizzling performances from McKeever and Moreland, Carbonell Awardwinning actors with years of experience.
Maya, a model and beginning actor, doesn’t have anything close to the tool kit his fellow actors have built through their years of experience. But Leeds has helped him shape an endearing performance as a millennial drifting toward his future.
“Mr. Parker” runs through Juy 15 at Island City Stage, 2304 N. Dixie Highway, in Wilton Manors. Show times are 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets cost $35. To order, call 954-519-2533 or go to IslandCityStage.org.