Lewiston/Clarkston

B- (Lewiston C+/Clarkston B+)

These two separate but thematically related plays by Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale, Pocatello) are being presented together for the first time at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Each involves a descendant of Lewis and Clark trying to find meaning by retracing the steps of their forefathers. Both have a scene set on the Fourth of July. 

In the first play, Lewiston, we meet Alice (Kristin Griffith; Animal, Da), a crusty older woman who has sold off most of the ranch that had been in the family since 1850 and is barely hanging on. The few dollars she earns from her roadside fireworks stand are supplemented by the Walgreens earnings of her 50-ish closeted roommate Connor (Arnie Burton; The 39 Steps, Machinal). She is planning to sell her remaining land to the developers of Meriwether Terrace, the condo estate going up next door. The unexpected arrival of her estranged granddaughter Marnie (Leah Karpel; The Harvest, Pocatello), whom she has not seen in over 15 years, disrupts these plans. The abrasive, condescending Marnie has sold her share of an urban farm in Seattle and wants to buy what’s left of the family property. Marnie likes to play the tapes her late mother recorded during her hike following Lewis and Clark’s steps to the Pacific. The three reach some kind of equilibrium. I found the characters less fully developed than I would have liked and their motivations less than clear. 

For the second play, Clarkston, Hunter, affectionately nicknamed the Bard of Boise because all his plays are set in Idaho, actually moves the setting across the border to Washington State. Jake (the ever youthful Noah Robbins; Brighton Beach Memoirs, “Master Harold”…and the Boys), a distant descendant of William Clark, is a recent arrival in town who has taken a job as night stock boy in the local Costco where he is being shown the ropes by Chris (Edmund Donovan; The Snow Geese), an amiable employee also in his 20’s. After graduating Bennington with a major in post-colonial gender studies, the privileged Jake has suddenly left home to follow the historic trail to the Pacific. He has stopped short of his goal to earn some money before pushing on to the ocean. Jake tells Chris that he has recently been diagnosed with early Huntington’s disease which will probably kill him before he reaches 30 and shortly after his diagnosis was dumped by his boyfriend. It turns out that Chris is furtively gay and the two begin a relationship of sorts. We next meet Chris’s mother Trish (Heidi Armbruster; Time Stands Still, Disgraced), an allegedly recovering meth addict, from whom Chris has desperately been trying to cut the cord. The climactic confrontation between mother and son is gut-wrenching. Chris and Jake find a way to comfort each other, at least for the time being.

As usual, Hunter is very compassionate toward his characters, all of whom must struggle for freedom, whether economic or sexual or from addiction. His look at life in the new West is a bleak one.

For this production, Rattlestick has gutted the theater. Dane Laffrey (Once on This Island) has designed two different performance spaces. For the first play, the audience of 51 sits on three sides of the action with a fireworks stand on the fourth. For the second, seating is in two longer facing rows with Costco shelves on both short sides. The costumes by Jessica Wegener Shay (A Kid Like Jake) are appropriate to the characters. The actors are all superb and are so close that you can practically touch them, a proximity that magnifies your connection. Between plays, the audience shares a communal meal during the 45-minute break. You can order barbecued chicken or tofu or bring your own food.

At three hours 45 minutes, it’s a very long evening, especially sitting on barely padded metal chairs. I felt that the direction by Davis McCallum (Pocatello, The Whale) was more than a little sluggish. Each play is 90 minutes, a full evening by today’s standards. I would have preferred skipping Lewiston and just seeing Clarkston, which I felt was clearly the better play.

The Harvest *** B

One of the things that theater can do is to take us to places we are unlikely to visit and introduce us to characters the likes of whom we would probably never meet. In that regard, Samuel D. Hunter’s new play at LCT3 is a success. We meet several members of an evangelical church in Idaho Falls who are about to depart on a mission to a war-torn Middle Eastern country. (The wisdom of sending Christian missionaries to a troubled Muslim country is an issue beyond my grasp.) In the play’s attention-grabbing opening scene, we witness five church members experiencing the intense rapture of speaking in tongues. It’s a gripping five minutes and a tough act to follow. Ada (Zoe WInters), the mission leader, is several years older than the others, who seem to be in their twenties. Marcus (Christopher Sears) and Denise (Madeleine Martin) are a married couple. The sensitive Tom (Gideon Glick of Significant Other) is subject to panic attacks. Unlike the others, who are going for four months, Tom’s close friend Josh (Peter Mark Kendall) has made the commitment to stay on, perhaps for life. Three days before departure, Josh’s estranged sister Michaela (Leah Karpel) suddenly returns to town, allegedly to talk him out of going. We also meet pastor Chuck (Scott Jaeck) whose relationship to one of the missionaries is revealed late in the play. We learn something but not enough about the motivations to undertake the mission. We don’t find out much about Marcus and Denise’s background. It seemed unlikely to me that a smart, feisty woman like Denise would pick a dullard like Marcus. Hunter succeeds in establishing the centrality of the church in the lives of its members as a beacon of truth in a predominantly Mormon environment, with a mission to share their truth with Muslims. It’s a fascinating peek at an unfamiliar worldview. However, the play loses vitality along the way and, for me at least, shed more heat than light. The five talented actors who play the missionaries give it their all — they must lose a few pounds during each performance. Dane Laffrey’s set presents a convincing version of the basement of a church that doesn’t have much money. Jessica Pabst’s costumes are apt. Davis McCallum’s direction once again demonstrates a sympathy for Hunter’s sensibility. Hunter (The Whale, The Few, Pocatello), a MacArthur Fellow, is definitely a playwright to watch. He has empathy for his characters and does especially well with ensembles. I don’t think this is his best work, but it is still worthwhile. Running time: one hour 50 minutes; no intermission.

Pocatello ***

In the last three years, Samuel D. Hunter has garnered Obie, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel and GLAAD awards and, most recently, a MacArthur Fellowship. He is regarded as one of our most promising young playwrights. However, I was not smitten either by The Whale (despite a memorable performance by Shuler Hensley) or by The Few. His interest in chronicling the lives of marginalized Idahoans seemed too limited. I am happy to report that I found his latest play, now in previews at Playwrights Horizons, considerably more ambitious and universal. Even though the setting is once again Idaho, the location could be any small American city experiencing economic decline and a loss of its uniqueness. Hunter compassionately illustrates the psychological damage on ten people whose hometown has slid into a jumble of fast food joints and big box stores. The lead character is Eddie (T.R. Knight), manager of the failing local outlet of a national Italian restaurant chain known for its soft breadsticks and salads. One would think that a sensitive gay man would flee Pocatello at his earliest opportunity, but Eddie feels strong roots dating back to his great-grandfather and has delusions that he can somehow forestall the closing of the restaurant and reunite, however briefly, his fractured family. His cold, distant mother Doris (Brenda Wehle) seems to want to have nothing to do with him. His older brother Nick (Brian Hutchison), who has only come back from Minnesota for a brief visit at the urging of his wife Kelly (Crystal Finn), cannot contain his eagerness to get away as rapidly as possible. Troy (Danny Wolohan), the waiter who has known Eddie since childhood, has a troubled marriage. His wife Tammy (Jessica Dickey) has a problem trying to stay on the wagon, their bright but troubled 17-year-old daughter Becky (Leah Karpel) is so environmentally concerned that she can barely eat, and Troy’s father Cole (Jonathan Hogan) suffers from dementia. Waiter Max (Cameron Scoggins) is grateful to Eddie for being the only employer in town willing to hire him after his stint in drug rehab. Waitress Isabelle (Elvy Yost) tries to skim along life’s surface without making waves. The opening scene, with all ten characters onstage, is quite a tour de force. Hunter generously gives each character at least a moment in the spotlight that gives us insight into what makes them tick. The cast is very strong, especially Knight as Eddie. One look into the combination of hurt and hope in his eyes speaks more than paragraphs of dialogue. Davis McCallum’s direction is superb. There is a silent moment when Tammy decides whether to take a drink of wine that is almost painful to watch. Lauren Helpern’s set accurately captures the look of a faux-Italian chain restaurant and Jessica Pabst’s costumes suit the characters well. There is more than enough sorrow to go around, especially for a relatively brief play. The ending needs to be more emphatic — no one applauded until the lights came up as if uncertain the play had really ended. The play impressed me as a big step forward for Hunter. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes, no intermission.