Review: ALMOST BLUE Almost Works

Almost Blue

Written by Keith Reddin, Director/Sound Design by Brett Marks; Luke J. Sutherland, Scenic Designer; Eric Propp, Costume Designer; Emily McCourt, Lighting Designer; Ariana Gett, Stage Manager; Brooke DiGiovanni Evans, Box Office Manager; Darren Evans, Producer

CAST: James Bocock, Erin Brehm, Kevin Fennessy, Adam Siladi

Performances through May 18 by Theatre on Fire at Charlestown Working Theater, 442 Bunker Hill Street, Charlestown, MA; Box Office 866-811-4111 or www.theatreonfire.org or www.charlestownworkingtheater.org

Almost Blue is billed as "a modern noir thriller set in a seedy rooming house." In my experience, it is more challenging to create the noir ambiance on stage than in a film, but the Theatre on Fire team of designers does a pretty good job of fulfilling the task in the intimate confines of the Charlestown Working Theater. Scenic Designer Luke J. Sutherland's vision of seedy includes peeling wallpaper, a grimy skylight window, and pieces of severely-used furniture. Augmenting the mood, Emily McCourt provides dim lighting with a solitary bulb hanging in the middle of the room and low-intensity stage lights angled on either side of the set. Add twangy or melancholy music between scenes and the senses are prepared for the journey ahead.

James Bocock establishes his character within the first few minutes of stumbling through the upstage door into Phil's disheveled room. Matching its state, he is scruffy-looking, bleary-eyed, and aimless. Bocock's protagonist seethes, sneers, keeps his distance, and harbors secrets. Recently out of prison, Phil doesn't do much of anything other than drink, stare into the distance, or play cards with his lonely neighbor Blue (Kevin Fennessy), until a mysterious woman shows up to give him more of a jolt than the instant coffee he takes black.

Erin Brehm has the body, the posture, and strikes the right tone to evoke the character of the femme fatale. She is hardened and apparently without emotion, seeking the cure for what ails her, when she hits on Phil. He doesn't know her, but learns that she is the widow of a guy named Steve who was a jailhouse buddy. It is unclear what Liz wants from Phil, but he reluctantly follows her when she yanks his chain. Brehm sizzles and Bocock seethes, but there is insufficient chemistry between them to account for the change in his behavior and his later actions.

Blue is the proverbial odd duck, what with his sweater vests and bowties (provided by Costume Designer Eric Propp) and peculiar manner of speaking. He cares for Phil in an indescribable way and takes on a Jiminy Cricket role in his life, trying to motivate him to look out for himself. Fennessy captures both the kindness and the creepiness in this part, matter-of-factly stating his employment history (as a writer of pornographic greeting cards) and proudly discussing his current project of writing his own personal history. His greatest impact comes during his silences when he keeps watch over Phil by keeping an eye on the woman Liz and The Man (Adam Siladi) who appears shortly before intermission.

Just as Phil is getting to know Liz a little bit, The Man appears in his doorway to turn his life in another direction. Siladi's character is trim and slick, in contrast to the doughy, sluggish Phil who wants to be left alone with his regrets. Evidently, The Man saved Phil's life in prison and has come to collect his due. His gregariousness turns into dangerousness when he gives Phil the choice of killing or being killed, but The Man says almost everything with a smile. With a fearsome tattoo on his neck and a violent glint in his eye, Siladi ratchets up the tension and provides the wedge that forces the other characters to choose sides.

Playwright Keith Reddin has infused his noir with numerous plot twists and, surprisingly, a fair amount of humor. Although the actors seamlessly nail the laughs, especially Fennessy, they often had the effect of taking me out of the flow of the story. There are also an abundance of scenes which fade to black and take too long to move on to the next one. Maintaining the ominous darkness of the play is difficult when interrupted and the lethargic pacing under the direction of Brett Marks is not helped by those breaks in the tension. Every time the action gathers a head of steam, something slows it down.

Almost Blue is an excellent choice for the genre that Theatre on Fire produces because it relies most heavily on the ability of the actors to flesh out the characters. The story is driven more by personalities than events, and the cast members wring the drama and wit from the foibles of these four misfits. Their talents may blend better as the run progresses, but what the production lacks at present is cohesion that would turn good individual performances into a strong ensemble effort.

Photo credit: Theatre on Fire (James Bocock, Erin Brehm)

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