|
OUT OF LEFT FIELD |
 |
|
as Matinee Idol?  Playwright Bruce Graham as he appears on stage, starring in his own play. |
The playwright who
acts in his own play
of TheColumnists.com
When I read that Bruce Graham, the playwright, would take over one of the roles in his new play, “Any Given Monday,” it seemed like a good idea to see the play first without Graham and then a second time with Graham.
“Any Given Monday” played for most of February in a Theater Exile production in center city Philadelphia with Joe Canuso in the role of the aggrieved Lenny, whose wife is cheating on him. For March the play moved to the Act II playhouse in suburban Ambler with Graham playing Lenny.
“Any Given Monday” is an irreverent drama of family conflict that touches on political correctness, religion, class discrimination and social injustice. And murder. It is as funny as hell.
It is unusual for a playwright to act in
his own play. Tracy Letts, the author of the Pulitzer-Prize winning
“August Osage County,” is an actor, but it was his
father, Dennis, who appeared in “Osage County.” Graham
got the role because Canuso was involved with other plays at
his theater. Because Graham originally had been an actor, it
seemed a good idea for him to step into the role when the play
moved.
Of the two Lennys I thought Canuso seemed too meek, not a good
match for the dominating wife. Graham, a bald, almost brawny
53-year-old guy, also came across as a too-nice guy, but with
a little more substance to him so the audience could appreciate
and cheer for him when he shows some spunk. When I told Graham
about my evaluations, he said, “Interesting.”
.
As far as reading lines he has written, Graham said, “It
is great fun when the play is cooking and the audience is with
it. All the audiences are different. Sometimes people don’t
laugh at all during the play and then they give you a standing
ovation at the end. Sometimes people don’t laugh in the
first act, but it seems as if they were given permission to laugh
during the intermission and they come back roaring. And there
are audiences that laugh from the beginning.”
The Lenny character is a teacher who doubts himself because he doesn’t think he is as worthy as his hero, Atticus Finch, of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” His daughter is a philosophy major worrying matters of morality, his wife spouts about how hard it is to have an affair. And his friend, Mick, a subway worker, dominates the play with his outrageous comments and actions. “If the world took Mick’s occasional rants as gospel,” the stage directions note, “he’d have been put in a straitjacket years ago.”
Graham can write raucous, blue-collar sports fan dialogue in his sleep. His one-man play, “The Philly Fan,” about Philly sports fan paranoia, rollicked and rolled. There’s this bit in the new play, which takes its title from an early scene in which Philadelphia guys Lenny and Mick are watching a Monday night football telecast:
Mick says, “Giants-Cowboys. Can’t stand this game. No fun when you hate both teams. Gotta root for injuries…or for a plane to crash inna middle or somethin’.” Earlier, Mick, frustrated by the remote control device, tosses it. “All these fuckin’ remotes. Too complicated. Went to my brother’s the other day. Hadda get my nephew to turn the TV on.”
Mick, as played by Pete Pryor, is hilarious. If this play ever were made into a movie-as it should-actors would kill to get the part of Mick. I would cast Pryor or a likeable blowhard like Jackie Gleason.
Graham said he has to watch out lest such humor take over the story-lines. “Mostly I have to cut that kind of byplay.”
A program blurb refers to Graham as “The dean of Philadelphia dramatists.” He has written more than 10 plays, won Philadelphia drama awards. His plays have been produced in London, Fort Worth, Chicago, even Off-Broadway. He has no regrets about New York..
“I am a regional playwright,” he said. “New Yorkers want to see plays about New York or big musicals with helicopters. I write about blue-collar people. They are not interested in that in New York.” He noted that Neil Simon has stated he was glad that he wrote his plays years ago-that he’d have trouble getting them on in New York now.
Graham is an equal opportunity offender. He offends everybody: Jews, feminists, blacks; even the homeless can take offense at some of the lines in this play. “I am trying to offend. If people are offended, let them wonder about why they are offended. I really hate the ridiculous, political correctness this country is going through right now. It totally stomps on the First Amendment.”
But he added, “The humor is important. Otherwise it become a rant--and I hate that.”
©2010 by Stan Isaacs. The Stan Isaacs caricature is ©2001 by Jim Hummel. The photo is courtesy of ACT II THEATRE. This column first posted March 22, 2010.
TO ACCESS STAN ISAACS' ARCHIVE OF COLUMNS
ON THIS SITE, CLICK HERE: ISAACS
ARCHIVE
You can comment
on this column online. Please address your message to either
"The Editors" or Stan Isaacs. To send an email, click
here and don't forget to mention Stan's name: talkback@thecolumnists.com
|
|
|
Archives |
|
|