Reviewed by George Basler
One of life’s certainties is that it can throw you some curve balls. Circumstances change. You change. Plans you make at age 20 morph into something different when you reach 40.
That’s the premise of Making God Laugh, a heartfelt “dramedy” by Sean Grennan that opened this past Friday (Nov. 15) for a two-weekend run at the Cider Mill Stage in Endicott.
The production, being produced by BLAST (Bold Local Artists of the Southern Tier) and directed by Ryan Canavan, follows a middle-class Catholic family from 1980 to the early 2000s in four scenes, each 10 years apart.
All the scenes take place as family members – a mother, a father and three grown children — gather during various holiday celebrations. Feelings get ruffled, past tensions surface and unexpected life changes are revealed.
The play does not have a promising start. The first scene plays like an ordinary television “sit-com” with the standard wisecracks as jokes. All that’s missing is a laugh track. But don’t give up on Making God Laugh. Starting with scene two, Grennan gradually transforms his play into a touching family drama with characters you can identify with and care about. The humor is still there, but it supports serious and poignant moments as the family members grapple with life’s twists and turns.
Maintaining the proper tone is key. The action in Making God Laugh could easily become unbearably hokey. But Canavan’s solid direction and the cast members’ performances make the characters seem fresh and real. And Grennan’s script has just enough funny lines and satirical bites to keep sentimentality at bay.
The play’s characters are recognizable ones. The mother, Ruthie (Andrea Gregori), is a button-down matriarch obsessed with making every holiday perfect. The long-suffering father, Bill (James T. Cornell), acts as the family peacemaker. The daughter, Maddie (Ilana Rose Wallenstein), is an aspiring actress who clashes with her mother over her career and lifestyle. The “troubled son,” Richie (Eric Bill), bounces from one bad investment to another looking to make a quick killing. The “good son, Tom (Max Kammerman), is pursuing his vocation as a Catholic priest.
All five cast members give polished performances.
Gregori hints at her character’s lingering regrets under her brittle exterior. Cornell brings real warmth to his role as a man deeply in love with his wife, despite her controlling nature. He shows hidden strength in working to end an estrangement between his wife and daughter.
Much of the play’s humor stems from the character of Richie, who makes woefully inept investments and embraces any popular trend that comes down the road no matter how nutty (remember Y2K). Bill plays the role with a goofy humor while also adding a touch of pathos as the character comes to the rueful realization that his life will never match his dreams.
Wallenstein is funny and believable as the rebellious daughter. Finally, Kammerman gives a subtle and affecting performance as the son pursuing the path of a priest. He successfully plays the character’s innate decency that is mixed with a sly sense of humor. The character never becomes “holier than thou.”
One of the play’s clever laugh getters is how the characters react to things that were cutting edge at the time but have fallen by the wayside: eight tracks and the Yugo, for instance. At one point Richie advises Maddie to invest in Enron, which is a sure thing, not Google, because a company with that funny a name can’t be successful.
Making God Laugh has its weaknesses. A minor point is that the three grown children never physically age. A more serious criticism is that the play skates over the surface of some of the more difficult issues it raises. Grennan is content to never dig too deeply.
Then again, this is a comedy after all.
The play ends on a strong note as the family confronts the crisis of aging parents facing the ravages of time. The scene is bittersweet and realistic. The resolution may be a bit pat, but its touching and hits the right emotional buttons.
The same could be said for Making God Laugh as a whole. BLAST has carved out a niche of staging one family comedy/drama a season. Making God Laugh is a worthy addition to that roster.
IF YOU GO: BLAST (Bold Local Artists of the Southern Tier) will continue its presentation of Making God Laugh Friday through Sunday (Nov. 22-24) at the Cider Mill Stage, 2 Nanticoke Ave., Endicott. All performances are at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30, including fees. Advance tickets can be ordered on the Cider Mill Stage’s website, www.cidermillstage.com, or call 607-321-9630.
