Playwright: Stephen Cone
At: the side project, 1439 W. Jarvis
Phone: 773-973-2150; $12-$15
Through: Sept. 10
BY SCOTT C. MORGAN
What would you do if a convicted pedophile barged into your home before the Christmas holiday? Would you: A ) Call the police; B ) Get your locks changed; or C ) Begrudgingly open your home to that man whose mannerisms are much like Kramer, that befuddled neighbor on the hit NBC sitcom Seinfeld?
Option C is what one family strangely does in playwright/director Stephen Cone's new play Henry Hettinger at the side project. That's right—at the conclusion of his 20-year jail sentence for molesting a 12-year-old boy, the title character returns to his ex-wife's family to inconvenience them by bringing up the painful past.
So why does Cone make Henry Hettinger much like a sitcom episode when the wacky neighbor has to live briefly with the show's main characters? Shouldn't there be more fear and outrage from Hettinger's ex-wife, her new husband and their family? Does adding jokes and characters typically found on a TV sitcom really shed light on this uncomfortable subject matter?
As these head-scratching questions swirl around your head, compare and contrast Cone's misbegotten play with the powerful 2004 Kevin Bacon film The Woodsman. Both deal with a convicted sex offender being reintegrated into society. The Woodsman does an insightful job looking at a man who is still coping with his personal demons. What's more, the film's chilly and serious tone befits a topic most people don't want to talk about.
In Cone's play, the moments of melodrama jolt since they are surrounded with forced humor and what many would consider illogical character behavior. For example, some characters ( like the son, Alex, played by Ryan Curtain ) are instantly forgiving of Hettinger's past actions thanks to their professed Christian beliefs. ( Knowing today's hard-line Christians, wouldn't they be the first to condemn? )
If Cone's play is a misguided mess of shifting tones and serious intentions, at least most of the cast come off well. Will Schultz genuinely conveys new husband Jeremy's insecurities of having his wife's better-looking ex-husband around the house. And Stacy Magerkurth milks most of the humor out of her disapproving and disbelieving daughter, Sara.
As the former husband-and-wife team of Henry and Melanie, Mike Nowak and Susan Price try their hardest to make coherent characters. Unfortunately, Cone's script makes them lost at sea with his characters' odd motivations and unconvincing explanations.
Cone's intentions behind Henry Hettinger seem noble enough. Comedy frequently can be used to great effect in getting audiences to consider difficult and serious subject matter. It's just too bad that Cone's wedding of a spaced-out sex offender with light sitcom humor induces more perplexed grimaces than guffaws.
