Review: THE BOOK CLUB PLAY at Village Theatre

Don't get me wrong, Dear Readers, I love a good sitcom. But it has to be a GOOD sitcom. And while the current offering from Village Theatre, "The Book Club Play" by Karen Zacarías, is basically a sitcom, it's not necessarily a good one. It's not a bad one either, for that matter, just kind of mediocre which made for a mediocre evening.

Zacarías' play focuses on, unsurprisingly, a book club. But this particular book club, led by uptight friends Ana and Will (Marquicia Domniguez and Richard Nguyen Sloniker), has been chosen by a famous documentarian to be the subject of his new film about book clubs. So, they are constantly observed with an all-seeing camera in Ana's living room. Along for the ride we have Rob (Nik Doner), Ana's husband who is just there for the food and because he lives there and who never reads the books, Jen (Lauren Paris), the somewhat scattered friend of Will's, and Lily (Maya Burton), Ana's new co-worker who's new to town and just wants to find some kind of social outlet. With the camera catching every moment, the five get swept up in each book for that session, and secrets begin to fly, made even more raucous with the newcomer Alex (Arlando Smith), who's new suggestions only cause more consternation for the status quo loving hosts.

It's a fun setup with recognizable book selections to hook the audience in, and Zacarías has done a fine job of using the selections to elicit thoughts and feelings missing from the club members. But this comedy is missing a fresh bite. It's a fairly predictable outcome and she tends towards the easy jokes. The low hanging fruit, if you will. You have the repressed friends who need to learn to loosen up and be true to themselves, the cow-towing husband who needs to stand up for himself. And the rest who long to put their pasts behind them in search of a more promising future. We had gay jokes that were old when "Will and Grace" originally did them, racial setups that went nowhere, and pseudo-illicit moments that were really about as tame as they come.

Co-directors Arlene Martínez-Vázquez & Jéhan Òsanyìn do a fine job keeping the pacing going but, for a large space with only six people in it, could have managed more with staging variety and sightlines as often people were in clumps, blocking each other, with their backs to the audience. They managed to land the jokes well enough by not trying to land them, but the jokes ultimately weren't all that funny.

The cast does a fine job with the material, but each character is written as such a stereotype that it's hard to understand why they would want to be around each other. But each performer does well with their characters, including the video bits that were interjected between scenes. Dominguez and Sloniker manage their ridged characters well and as each have their unbridled moments, bring in tons of comedy. Paris has oodles of stage presence which brought lots of light to each moment she was in. Burton too, shone within her role. But it was Smith and Doner who truly made the comedy work as they communicated volumes with a single look or smirk.

The show wants to be a farce but never quite makes it to that level which is a shame as the actors are working so very hard up there. And so, with my three-letter rating system, I give "The Book Club Play" at Village Theatre a "I was hoping for more" MEH+. Comedies are great and we can all use a good laugh these days. I just wish this show had offered more than the occasional chortle.

"The Book Club Play" performs at Village Theatre in Issaquah through April 3rd before moving to their Everett location running April 8th through May 1st. For tickets or information visit them online at www.villagetheatre.org.

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