Review: DOWNSTATE at Studio Theatre

One doesn’t expect the theater to be the place to contemplate a broken justice system. But here’s “Downstate,” Bruce Norris’ 2018 play about a group home for sex offenders.

Even after serving jail time, they get something of a life sentence with ankle bracelets monitoring every move, large swaths of the city cut off from them because of proximity to elementary schools, forced to live with no WiFi among people they probably wouldn’t have chosen and forever carry the scorn of passerby.

And one more thing, in the scene that begins “Downstate,” in a sharp production at Studio Theatre — a victim showing up decades after an incident to demand something: closure? apology? 

It’s not exactly clear, either to Fred (Dan Daily), the blank, seemingly affable, white-haired and totally Midwestern man who gets around in an electric wheelchair. He’s confronted by Andy (Tim Getman), a family man carrying anger, resentment and unresolved issues bearing an agreement he wants Fred to sign. His wife Em (Emily Kester) has less patience for the place than Andy does. When Andy calls him evil, Fred offers coffee. 

Amid this, there are all manner of distractions from the other residents - Dee (Stephen Conrad Moore) and Geo (Jaysen Wright) arguing over a grocery bill in the kitchen, a generally mute Felix (Richard Ruiz Henry) getting the day’s bowl of cereal. 

The bland, wood-paneled home (set by Alexander Woodward), with broken windows courtesy of angry passerby, is a beehive of activity, though Andy and Em driving down from Chicago is not the biggest threat. That comes when the state parole officer Ivy (a no-nonsense Kelli Blackwell) comes to inform about even further restrictions the city has imposed, causing them to walk a mile out of their way from their closest grocery store or bus stop.

Norris’ narrative, in the expert hands of director artistic director David Muse, unfolds the various personalities in the home and how they’ve managed to become their own warped family — in the absence of anyone else in society caring.

Dee, a creative sort, is something of a mother figure and has a protective bond over the others, even as Gio insists he’s different from the others because he’s “only” in for statutory rape. Fred’s found a solace in Chopin though he has to make do with a cheap CD player and a keyboard that’s a poor substitute for his piano. Felix keeps to himself, though he can’t resist checking in on his daughter online at the library since it’s her birthday — it’s a transgression that brings Ivy back to the home for an interrogation.

And Andy returns, too, because he’s got a little more something to say.

“Downstate” creates its community even as it doles out the sticky issues — yes, children must be protected, but should these people just be thrown away? “Downstate” doesn’t provide answers, but it puts confronts us with the issues even as the drama slowly escalates to tragedy on stage.

It’s a wonderful cast, top to bottom, starting with Daily’s mesmerizing Fred, a guy who even when he tries to do right can’t quite escape the past. Moore’s Dee is infused with some wistfulness in his situation, even as he spars with Gio, who won’t take his weights from the common room. When he brings a coworker back with him (Irene Hamilton), it injects some frisson and frantic overtalk to the action. 

Blackwell’s Ivy is torn by these guys — she feels for what they’re going through but she primarily has to follow the rules. It results in work nobody cheers. 

“Downstate” may seem a little long — 2 and a half hours, including an intermission. Perhaps a trim could bring added narrative power. After all. audiences, like everyone on stage, may be antsy to get out of this group home. But the issues it raises won't be leaving  anytime soon. 

Photo credit: Tim Getman, Dan Daily and Stephen Conrad Moore in 'Downstate." Photo by DJ Corey.

"Downstate" runs through Feb. 16 at Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St NW. Tickets available online. 

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