Playwright: Anthony Weigh. At: Steep Theatre, 1115 W. Berwyn. Tickets: 866-811-4111; www.steeptheatre.com . Runs through: June 26
In a rare off-Loop miscue, 2,000 Feet Away had not jelled on opening night despite the efforts of formidable veteran director Jimmy McDermott. Beats were not precise, dialogue overlaps sounded accidental and the focus seemed uncertain. The performance will improve quickly, although I'm not sure to what purpose.
The play's metaphor, stated several times, is the Pied Piper of Hamelin, who drew all the rats to the river to drown. When the townsfolk didn't pay him, the piper led away their children. But where would the rats have gone if there hadn't been a river? Eldon, Iowa, has no river, but it does have the house portrayed in the Grant Wood painting "American Gothic." With just 1,000 people, Eldon surprisingly has enough sexual predators to fill two edge-of-town motels. It's to these motels that the deputy aheriff brings each predator after evicting him from his home. The newest resident, A.G., is the local piano teacher, whose parents have won the "American Gothic" lookalike contest 11 times. The seputy identifies himself with the Pied Piper, but he's confused by A.G., who's both a rat and a child of Eldon. Promotional materials suggest the play will focus on A.G., victim of a real Eldon law prohibiting sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school, daycare center, park, shopping mall, bus stop or library. Yeah, there's no place they can live. But the deputy is given focus, not A.G. In seven scenes over 95 minutes, the townspeople reveal themselves as uncaring, small-minded citizens who deride the deputy for his weight, eating habits, inefficiency and single status. More than A.G., he's marginalized by the community, a piper unrespected for the work he does. Indeed, the law he enforces scarcely is discussed and A.G.'s crime is referenced with vagaries such as "I'm not a ... you know." It's like Tennessee Williams dancing around saying "homosexual." Ultimately, the deputy helps A.G. disappear as the play's opening and closing scenes ( taken together ) reveal.
Pederast though he is, A.G. is the play's only character with believable emotions, well-played by Benjamin Sprunger. The chief burden falls on Steep company member Brendan Melanson, whose performance as the deputy was not quite fully realized. There also are several effective character actors and promising juvenile players who appear in just one or two scenes.
Author Anthony Weigh's dialog is intelligent and pithy yet indirecta spare poetic realism in which almost no one connects to anyone else. Even A.G.'s parents seem disinterested in him and never appear with him. Existential angst we get. But how can audiences connect with characters that don't connect with each other? That's the challenge of the play and production, and it's what was missing on opening night.