The Drawer Boy: Finally, Only 45 Minutes From Broadway

I'll have to admit, when I first read about the plot of Michael Healey's The Drawer Boy, a heartwarming drama now receiving a handsomely mounted and beautifully acted New York area premiere at The Paper Mill Playhouse, it seemed like a contrivance best suited for a fish-out-of-water comedy. A young idealistic actor knocks on the door of a modest Ontario farm house, asking if he can live there and observe the day-to-day lives of its residents as research for a theatre project.

But a group of actors from a Toronto theatre company really did once knock on rural doors in an attempt to immerse themselves into the culture of Canadian cow country, resulting in a 1972 documentary play called The Farm Show. Although Healey was less than ten years old at the time, The Drawer Boy takes its inspiration from this event and twists it into a tale of the healing nature of art.

Boyhood friends Morgan (John Mahoney) and Angus (Paul Vincent O'Conner) have been living together as farmers since the two of them returned home from World War II, where Angus suffered a brain injury leaving him with little capacity for memory. Aside from knowing his trusted friend and being aware of his household surroundings, his life is continually in the present. Morgan, a direct and humorless man, has been taking care of his emotionless pal ever since their two brides-to-be left the picture nearly thirty years ago. Making little income from their farm, aside from the ability to keep themselves fed, their lives are that of a continual, lonely and predictable cycle of growing things and killing things.

When the physical labor-challenged Miles (Louis Cancelmi) offers up his services, Morgan has no interest in his art but is not one to turn down free assistance. There are the expected mishaps when Miles tries to handle farm equipment, as well as culture clashes when he inadvertently talks down to his hosts while discussing his political and sociological views. In turn, Morgan leads the impressionable youth to believe that cows try extra hard to give milk because they know the one with the least output will be the next sent to slaughter, and that you must continually rotate eggs from one chicken to another so they don't develop an attachment and become depressed when you take their unhatched offspring away. (Mahoney plays these scenes with such deadpan seriousness he had this city boy wondering if he really meant what he was saying.)

But Morgan's main concern is to make Angus' life as pleasant as possible. Every night he comforts his friend with a bedtime story of their years together. Before the war, Angus had a talent for art, so Morgan refers to themselves as "the farmer boy" and "the drawer boy". When Miles starts overhearing these private moments he develops Morgan's story into a scene for his play, not mentioning it to them until the two farmers are invited to see a rehearsal. The effect this experience has on both of them is loaded with twists and surprises, revealing unexpected aspects of their friendship and past romances.

Anne D. Shapiro, who previously directed John Mahoney in this play four years ago at The Steppenwolf Theater, has assembled a sterling cast giving low-key, fully realized performances. Mahoney, now playing Morgan for the fourth time, gives us a man continually guarded emotionally. His performance is elegant in its simplicity, with two softly-spoken monologues of chilling beauty.

Paul Vincent O'Connor is outstanding as the pathetic Angus. Despite a stony face that tends to stare vacantly about, he conveys both a childish warmth and a continual potential for uncontrolled violence. Louis Cancelmi's Miles has all the sophomoric, idealistic passion you'd expect from a reminder of the waining days of hippie communal culture.

The physical production is perfectly thought out and executed. Todd Rosenthal takes on the challenge of placing this intimate play on a large stage by designing an on-stage house that's... well, as big as a house. But only one room, the kitchen, is visible to us, and with a large front yard downstage and a big sky behind it, the isolation of these characters becomes striking. Kevin Adams' lighting tells us everything we need to know about the weather and the time of day. A star-lit evening is remarkably realistic, as is an on-stage rainstorm. The sound design of Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen complete the rural atmosphere, as do Jess Goldstein's simple and effective costumes.

New York theatre-goers would be surprised to hear how popular a drama The Drawer Boy has become outside the environs of Times Square. Named one of the top ten of 2001 by Time Magazine, the play saw 24 American productions last year and 31 worldwide, with translations performed in Japanese, German and French. If it's ever to come to Broadway, this is certainly a production worthy of a commercial transfer and quite possibly a Tony or two.

 

Photos by Jerry Dalia: Top: (l-r) Louis Cancelmi, John Mahoney and Paul Vincent O'Conner
Center: (l-r) John Mahoney, Paul Vincent O'Conner and Louis Cancelmi
Bottom: John Mahoney

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