Review: BOOK OF DAYS at Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre

Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre kicks off its 2025 calendar year offerings with an offbeat murder mystery/character study by Lanford Wilson called BOOK OF DAYS performed at The Westport Bowery. The play, originally commissioned by Jeff Daniels in 1998 for his own small town (Michigan) theater company, is set in a southwestern Missouri rural community at a time not specifically named.

Lanford Wilson is best known for his naturalistic use of dialogue.  His best- known work is the two-hander “Talley’s Folly.” BOOK OF DAYS draws on Wilson’s own theatrical roots in small-town America. He was from Lebanon, Missouri.

BOOK OF DAYS is co-directed by MET’s artistic director Karen Paisley and well-known actor/director Bob Paisley.  BOOK OF DAYS has been compared in style and format to classics like “Our Town” and “Under Milk Wood.” The twelve-person cast often breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the audience. I was reminded of Edgar Lee Master’s “Spoon River Anthology.”

Staging BOOK OF DAYS has been a challenge due to timing, weather, and problems with the venue.  The original notion was to return (at least to the lobby) of the MET’s Warwick Theater; damaged last year by a fire.  The Warwick reconstruction project continues, but not quite quickly enough to gain Fire Marshal approval for this production.   

Dublin’s citizens are oddly intertwined.  Economically, the town is dependent on a single important industry, a cheese factory. Everyone thinks they know everyone, but in truth most neighbors have secrets.

The springboard device for Wilson’s play is a community theater production of George Bernard Shaw’s “ST. JOAN.” As the play begins we meet Ruth Hoch. Ruth (Victoria Ricci) is the bookkeeper at the Cheese Factory.  She mistakenly believes she is about to audition for a musical. Perhaps not. 

Ruth is married to Len (David Boncyk).  Len is the youngish, aggressive cheese factory manager.  Len has ideas about how to improve both the quality and efficiency of the factory.  Len’s Mom Martha (Kathy Breeden) is the President of the local Junior College. Back in the days of Woodstock, Martha is proud of having been a wild child.

Both Len and Ruth work for the owner of the Cheese Company, Will Bates (John Clancy). We might call Will kind of the “Big Cheese.” Will is married to Sharon (Jessica Whitfield). Sharon is a dedicated member of the local fundamentalist Christian Church.  Will and Sharon are parents to James Bates (Brent Custer). James is a budding politician and attorney married to Louann (Patty Whitlock).  James and his father Will appear to have had a falling out.

James has also fallen off the fidelity wagon.  Meanwhile James’ high school buddy Bobby Groves (Brent Nanney) has become the minister of the local church.

Back to the auditions.  Boyd Middleton (Matt McCann) is the director of ST. JOAN. For some reason, unclear to me, Boyd is a director of some reputation. Ginger Reed (Nicole Hall) is Boyd’s assistant.  We suspect that Ginger is infatuated with Boyd.

Most of Act I is spent mainly meeting the characters.  Earl Hill (Andy Penn) is the dairy inspector at the factory and a hunting buddy of Will Bates.  Will is accidently killed on a hunting trip with Earl.

Everyone appears to accept the accident except Ruth.  Something just doesn’t add up. Ruth is determined to solve the mystery of Will’s death.  Perhaps Will’s death was a murder and not an accident.  Briefly, we wonder “Who done it?”  We’ve met everyone now except the local Sheriff Conroy Adkins (Ace Lovelace).

I won’t spoil the cliff hanger for you.  BOOK OF DAYS is an interesting piece.  The cast does its best in challenging circumstances.  The show can go one of two ways.  Wilson does have a way with dialogue.  Many of his First Act lines can even draw a laugh.  Overall, the characterizations can be very subtle or they can lean toward the melodramatic.

BOOK OF DAYS runs through February 2 at The Westport Bowery.    Tickets can be purchased at www.warwickkc.org.  Next up is Freud’s Last Session on February 14- February 16.   

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