THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 14, 1996 TAG: 9603140022
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, THEATER CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
THERE IS A CLAP of thunder and a naked blade in the very first scene of ``A Penny for the Guy,'' the Virginia Stage Company's new drama, sending an unmistakable signal that this is to be something resembling a ``thriller.''
The ensuing evening turns out, surprisingly, to have a more ambitious aim. Rather than a play about impending death, this is a play about caring and loving. Its strength is not in a mere parlor game but in its ability to suggest how important one human being can be in saving another.
While consistently teasing the audience with borrowings from the mystery genre, Lanie Robertson's well-crafted script presents an important and engrossing play that has two extremely well-developed and complex characters. While it lacks the plot twists for a mystery-thriller, it has more than enough heart for a compassionate drama.
The setting is the run-down kitchen of the McCrew family in a near-slum area of London in the 1950s. The so-called ``family'' is largely nonexistent. The only person on the premises is 10-year-old Timmy, a bright lad who doesn't yet seem to realize that he's spent most of his life abandoned. His alcoholic mother has been missing for several days. His abusive, and also alcoholic, father is expected back at any moment.
Entering, instead, is a rough ``common woman'' whose real name is Meg but who prefers to call herself Peg. She's a pub friend of the Dad and a tough number, at least on the exterior. She tells Timmy that his mother has run off to Canada. He immediately believes her, but the audience, through subtle suggestion, is made suspicious.
By the time the lights dim at the end of Act I, there is a drop of blood on the stage floor - and more teasing by an astute playwright who knows just enough to tag us along. He knows how to woo us into a drama about child abuse and caring that, otherwise, we might not have so readily accepted.
Robertson depended more heavily on mere mood and performance in last season's popular but simplistic VSC entry ``Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill.'' Here, his writing is more ambitious, and more fully realized.
The two outstanding roles are given impressive characterizations by Ingrid MacCartney as the pub woman and 10-year-old Evan Bonifant as the boy.
MacCartney takes the lad to see ``Bambi'' and quickly learns to care for someone who needs her. The actress brings a rare mixture of toughness and compassion to Peg, making her breathe with caring.
Young Bonifant, in spite of his few years, is a veteran of television and film (including the ``3 Ninjas Kick Back'' feature). He manages a rare degree of vulnerability, making us care what happens to Timmy. His timing, especially for one so young, is impressive, but he lacks the voice to project the awesome stage requirements here. Nonetheless, this is a quite amazing performance that captures the need and tragedy of a boy who has been taught to hide his feelings.
The two-leveled performance of young Bonifant must owe much to the direction of Charlie Hensley, who delivers one of his more understated productions here.
Ed Hyland, who was last seen as Polonius in ``Hamlet,'' adds a gruff and threatening performance in the simpler role of a Scotland Yard investigator.
The set design, depicting the squalid claustrophobia of a kitchen in the midst of a run-down neighborhood, is an impressive VSC debut for designer Chris Pickart (who is currently represented in New York with the design for the long-running ``Perfect Crime''). Costumes are by Patricia Garel with lighting by Liz Lee.
Is there a dead body in the trunk? It's an interesting question to play along with, but the real strength of this intriguing play is concern for the living rather than the dead. ILLUSTRATION: THEATER REVIEW
What:``A Penny for the Guy,'' the drama by Lanie Robertson
Where: Presented by Virginia Stage Company in the Wells Theater,
downtown Norfolk
Who: Featuring Ingrid MacCartney, Evan Bonifant and Ed Hyland,
directed by Charlie Hensley
When: Tonight and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 and 8 p.m.,
Sunday at 2 and 7 p. m., continuing through March 24
Tickets: From $11 to $32, varied discounts available. Call
627-1234.
by CNB