Review: THE NERD at The Strauss Blackbox Theater At The Kirkwood Peforming Arts Center

Emotional indebtedness, at its core, places an intense obligation upon the owner of the debt. In Larry Shue’s hilarious play, THE NERD, 34-year-old architect Willum Cubbert is so obliged to another man that he allows his debtor to take advantage of a promise he made long ago. Shue’s THE NERD takes comedic farce to a new level of inventive hilarity with a script packed with absurd character behavior and ridiculous comedy that elicits huge audience laughs.

On Willum’s 34th birthday, his friend Axel and his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend Tansy, throw a birthday party for Willum. Unfortunately, most of the invited guests cannot attend. Quickly, the celebration becomes a much smaller dinner party of just seven people. The first to arrive are Warnock (Willum’s boss), Clelia (Warnock’s wife) and their 10-year-old son Thor. The last to arrive at the party is a man that Willum has yet to meet face-to-face, Rick Stedman. Rick is the man who dragged an injured and unconscious Willum to safety after he was shot in Vietnam and saved his life. As a result, and although they’ve never met in-person, Willum promises Rick that he can come to him for help at any time. Willum is beyond excited to learn Rick is coming to his party. He is anticipating the arrival of his courageous savior when the geeky Rick walks through the door.

Moonstone Theatre Company’s production of THE NERD is a riotous fun time thanks to swift direction and the cast’s ability to execute on slapstick comedy with impeccable timing. Director Gary Wayne Barker juices ever last laugh from the script. His vision and blocking extracts performances of sharp physical comedy from each of his actors. His brisk pacing makes the 2-hour fly by in a flash, but it is the fearless performances of his cast, especially Ryan Lawson-Maeske (Rick) and Greg Johnson (Warnock) that make this comedy succeed.

It is as if the spirit of Jerry Lewis has possessed the body and voice of Ryan Lawson-Maeske (Rick.) His delivery of the dialogue and his physical comedy is reminiscent of Lewis’ scene chewing clowning in his early movies like “The Nutty Professor.” His posture, expressions, vocal delivery, and physical acting choices make Rick a comical, yet annoying house guest. Lawson-Maeske’s disappearance into the nerdy Rick is flawless. Without an actor nailing this role, the entire production would fall flat. Lawson-Maeske carries this production with his daring and risk-taking performance.

Greg Johnson (Warnock) also has plenty of opportunity for scene chewing as the grumpy old boss of the young architect. His angry rants are unquestionably amusing. He is given many opportunity to play off sight-gags that create some hysterical moments, but his best work is when he is simply reacting to the Lawson-Maeske’s nerdy Rick in the first act. Johnson’s expressions are priceless. The two of them on stage together was like watching a championship tennis match, swiveling your head back-and-forth to see Johnson’s reaction to Lawson-Maeske’s comedic turn.

The remainder of the cast also have plenty of opportunity to draw chuckles, chortles, snorts and guffaws from the audience. One of the biggest laughs of the night came in the second act when Alex and Tansy attempt to restrain Willum as he pretends to morph into a pig. Oliver Bacus (Willum), Bridgette Bassa (Tansy) and Bryce A. Miller (Alex) sacrifice their bodies to elicit belly-laughs from the audience. Watching the three of them climb all over each other on the floor was sidesplittingly funny. Leslie Wobbe’s restrained performance as the anxious Clelia was amusing. She rivaled Johnson in her ability to entice a laugh without saying a word. 10-year-old Kieran Thompson (Thor) was able to hold his own among this gifted cast with his acting and physical comedy, especially when he fainted and became a limp-noodle allowing another actor to push him around the stage.

Often an absurd farce, while funny, leaves  the ending open to interpretation with some unanswered questions that can leave an audience a bit flat at the end. THE NERD is different. Larry Shue’s uproarious script wraps up nicely with a satisfying conclusion. Moonstone Theatre Company’s THE NERD is absurdly ridiculous, hilarious, and silly. Their production sends the audience home with a smile on their face and a lift in their step. THE NERD will keep audiences laughing in The Strauss Blackbox Theater at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center through July 23rd. Don’t miss it!

PHOTO CREDIT: Jon Gitchoff

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