Review: Theater Uses Its Bully Pulpit in FROM WHITE PLAINS

From White Plains

Written by Michael Perlman, in collaboration with Craig Wesley Divino, Karl Gregory, Jimmy King, and Aaron Rossini; Directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques; Set & Costume Design, Maria Kapustina; Sound Design, David Reiffel; Properties Design, John Cadiz; Stage Manager, Joe Ouellette; Assistant Stage Manager, Ruby Simonoff

CAST: Diego Buscaglia, Mauro Canepa, Steven DeMarco, Brooks Reeves

Performances through December 14 by Apollinaire Theatre Company at Chelsea Theatre Works, 189 Winnisimmet Street, Chelsea, MA; Box Office 617-887-2336 or www.apollinairetheatre.com

Apollinaire Theatre Company is the theatrical equivalent of an open and affirming congregation, and Artistic Director Danielle Fauteux Jacques is the spiritual leader who stages unusual or daring modern and contemporary works in her no-nonsense style. On the third floor of the historic 1906 Old Post Office Building/Odd Fellows Hall in Chelsea Square, now known as the Chelsea Theatre Works, Apollinaire's production of Michael Perlman's 2012 Off-Off-Broadway play From White Plains is not your typical anti-bullying polemic; rather, it uses its bully pulpit to allow believers of opposing camps to search their souls and have their say.

The opposing camps are ostensibly the bullies and the bullied, but the divisions are not as clear as one might expect and roles have been reversed over time. Perlman raises many questions; among them, do people change as they grow up? Can adults be held accountable for the actions of their adolescent selves? Where should one draw the line between letting go and forgiveness? The playwright doesn't provide all of the answers, but creates three-dimensional characters who give legitimacy to their conflicting points of view, challenging the audience to decide where their sympathies belong. Making the choice more difficult are the heartfelt, fully-realized portrayals that Jacques coaxes from a tight-knit quartet of actors.

Dennis Sullivan (Brooks Reeves) wins an Oscar for his film "From White Plains," based on the true story of his best friend from high school who committed suicide, purportedly as a result of homophobic bullying. During his emotional acceptance speech on the global television broadcast, Dennis points a finger at classmate Ethan Rice (Steven DeMarco) as the perpetrator, setting in motion a series of life-changing events for both men, as well as those closest to them. Watching the awards show with him, Rice's best friend John (Mauro Canepa) is put in an awkward position for several reasons, and Dennis' boyfriend Gregory (Diego Buscaglia) finds himself competing with the former's old ghosts as he persists in carrying on a very public feud with Rice on the internet. Gregory believes that things have gotten better since their school days, but he is still resistant to coming out to his parents, which contributes to the friction in his relationship with Dennis and is just one of the factors that threatens their future life together.

In many ways, From White Plains is a coming of age story with each of the four characters standing at a crossroad in his life. With the success of his film and the acclaim symbolized by the Oscar, Dennis is enjoying a watershed moment. His decision to use his bully pulpit is both courageous and potentially damaging. His hammering of Ethan may seem justified at first, but the continuing onslaught of attacks borders on or crosses the line of bullying, reversing the roles of victim and perpetrator. When Dennis can't recognize this, he risks damage to his personal life by rejecting the feedback provided by Gregory and turning his attack on him for not owning the fight. It's too much for him to absorb, but Gregory begins to look at his lack of outrage and examine how deeply he remains in his closet.

The straight men are not spared having to make difficult choices, nor are they treated unsympathetically by the playwright. John is torn between wanting to support or distance himself from his friend who has become a pariah. Ethan turns into the trigger for John's memories of his own experience of being bullied and, like Dennis and much of the cyber world, John is not convinced of Ethan's sincerity when he apologizes for his past deeds. From the start, Ethan acknowledges that he needs to say or do something to rectify the situation, but it takes many false steps before he truly understands his culpability and internalizes the magnitude of the hurt he has caused.

Perlman gives his characters room to grow and each of the actors shows the changes as the story progresses. Reeves is giddy when Dennis wins the Oscar, but becomes serious and combative when he wages war on Ethan. He is the spokesman for the anti-bullying message in the play, but his single-minded obsession pushes him to do and say some inappropriate things. He gets a glint in his eye and borders on megalomania, but he softens in some of the scenes with Gregory. As Buscaglia plays him, he is charming, full of youthful energy and looking at the glass as half full, a bright contrast to the dark side of Dennis. There is a hint of naiveté underlying Buscaglia's portrayal which I found endearing.

Canepa gives warmth and depth to the troubled John and shows his ambivalence on his face and in his body language. With a story arc that takes him from a beer-drinking, epithet-spouting tough guy, to a confused and pitiful outcast, to a humbled man seeking redemption, DeMarco more than meets the challenge of authentically creating the various phases of Ethan's development, even managing to garner sympathy for him along the way. He and Canepa are convincing as buddies, both when they are hanging out and when they are growing apart. DeMarco and Reeves also set the right tone when they share a scene.

Although Dennis' speeches have a tendency to be heavy-handed and there is some repetition of the key themes of the play, From White Plains does a good job of raising issues that resonate in the here and now, with the added benefit of leaving them unresolved. The audience exits the theater wondering where the characters will go and how the relationships will develop. In other words, it's just like real life.

Photo credit: Apollinaire Theatre Company (Brooks Reeves, Diego Buscaglia)

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