Playwright: Samm-Art Williams
At: ETA Square,
7558 S. South Chicago Ave.
Phone: (773) 752-3955; $25
Runs through: June 13
The Situation Comedy is nowadays a genre so associated with the 23-minute, laugh-tracked, tailored-for-television product that we have all but forgotten its roots in live theater. But if Samm-Art Williams' play sometimes resembles the pilot episode for a TV series, the intricacy of its plot and complexity of its characters make it into that rarity—a SMART sitcom.
Of course, we first must endure a lengthy exposition: The late Ezekial Lee left his house to college-educated son Ray and his business—a ramshackle gas station and general store—to home-boy son Joe. The latter is eager to sell his inheritance and follow his bliss—specifically, the wooing of his childhood sweetheart, the material-girl Edna Cooper. His plans meet with opposition, not only from Ray, but from Zeke's old cronies, who recall cheerful evenings gathered in that selfsame store sharing news, gossip and tall tales.
The latter-day Neil Simon (or post-Norman Lear, if you prefer) Situation Comedy allows for farcical shtick segueing into reflective discourse, but a contest pitting nostalgic sentiment against mid-life crisis hardly make for earth-shattering stakes. Director Ron OJ Parson wisely keeps the tone from becoming overly weighty, even during the more sobering revelations, instead taking for his central metaphor the storytelling tradition so cherished by the trio of old men—retired meat-packer Bailey, genial-drunk Pete and small-game hunter Mule—determined to protect its legacy. In the scenes where these rough-and-ready raconteurs demonstrate the art of 'swapping lies and alibis,' reveling in its richly textured round-robin harmonies, the reasons for preserving this experience become manifest.
Senuwell L. Smith's social-climbing Joe, Juliette Marie Ferguson's calculating Edna, and James T. Alfred's straitlaced Ray struggle with the discussions of Relevant Social Issues imposed by the text, as does Jason Wickenkamp (half a century too young for his role) as the corporate greedhead anxious to annex Joe's adjacent property. The heart of the show's infectious appeal, however, is the ensemble of Jason Wilson, Willie B. Goodson and J.J. McCormick, whose jubilant celebration of country-styled eloquence endear them to us immediately. Tell the story, gentlemen.