Comment on Theater review: Darkly humorous 'Detroit' staged at Carpenter Square Theatre in Oklahoma City

Theater review: Darkly humorous 'Detroit' staged at Carpenter Square Theatre in Oklahoma City

Things aren’t necessarily what they seem and some of the “facts” are deeply suspect in “Detroit” the play, but “not necessarily” the city, as being staged by Carpenter Square Theatre. A deceptive air of normalcy prevails in the downbeat, darkly humorous script, in which a couple and their new next-door neighbors at first appear to be bonding while grilling in their suburban backyards. Coming across superficially as a typical middle-class couple, both Michelle Swink as Mary, a paralegal, and Barry Thurman as her husband, Ben, a laid-off financial adviser, conveyed a subtle sense of dissatisfaction. Swink communicated this by expressing her character’s desire to live closer to nature, or go camping, while Thurman gave a slight British accent to his character, ostensibly trying to start his business over on the Internet. But it was their new neighbors and dinner guests, Stevie Michelle Aycock as Sharon, and Greg Crall as Kenny, who came across as the aggressors, unlike the younger visiting couple in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” The more they talk, the more outrageous they seemd, appearing to change facts of their story about meeting recently in drug rehab, or years before, and moving into the empty house, by invitation or not, after a relative died. Not jaded and clever, like George and Martha in “Virginia Woolf,” however, both Sharon and Kenny, and Mary and Ben, come across as socially and physically inept, making accidents happen, almost on purpose. These escalate from the outdoor table’s sun-umbrella collapsing, for no apparent reason, hurting Kenny’s head, to Ben stepping through the neighbors’ flimsy back porch, and cutting his leg badly. Things reach an initial climax, or anti-climax, when Mary and Sharon go on an ill-planned, impromptu camping trip, leaving the men to rev themselves up for a men’s-night-out bacchanal, spoiled by the women’s return. This only seems to liberate the spirits and collective unconsciousness of the two couples, leading them to party until the first couple’s house burns down, freeing Ben to pursue his cyber dream of an alternate life in England! Ending the play was the appearance of Michael Hardwick, portraying an older man who waxes poetic about the “good old days” in the neighborhood, before buying padlocks to prevent Sharon and Kenny from returning. The R-rated 2013 Obie Award-winning play (and 2011 Pulitzer Prize finalist) by Lisa D’Amour is not for every taste, and can be confusing and disturbing, but the Carpenter Square actors gave it a robust, rousing, ribald performance. Benefiting from a very well constructed set, designed by Ben Hall and the play’s director, Rhonda Clark, the provocative, offbeat vehicle does make us question our assumptions about the socalled American Dream.Read more on NewsOK.com

 

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