In an opening night that seemed giddy with its own potential, the world-premiere production of University faculty member Ari Roth's "Goodnight Irene" began its run at the Performance Network. With two equity actors and an accomplished director what transpired proved to be powerful, though not flawless.
The story begins with Ethan (Peter Birkenhead), editor of a fledgling monthly urban-oriented newspaper, interested in patching up the Crown Heights tensions between Jews and African Americans that erupted the previous year. Putting him in severe debt, the idea of a monthly publication, appropriately enough called "Repair," inspires in Ethan much self-incrimination as he questions his ability to contribute to an issue that consumes him.
Played passionately and effectively by Birkenhead, Ethan does much to endear us to him. This is quite an accomplishment considering there are times when Ethan in enthusiastic but somewhat neurotic style could come across as annoying with his tendency to ramble - defending and questioning himself simultaneously. Yet, Birkenhead shows plenty of heart that gives Ethan a sense of realism, so that his insecurity, in fact, works for him.
The power of the play comes from many angles, not just the acting. Gilbert McCauley did a superb job directing the production, employing a dynamic synthesis of lighting (Johanna Broughton) that at times was positively eerie, and sound (Ed Special and Tom Bray) that with its thunderous rain and various voices made the most of many moments.
Tim Rhoze, who played Ethan's best friend Keith, was absolutely wonderful and Rhoze's self-reliant demeanor offered a refreshing contrast to Ethan's tendency to victimize himself. One problem with the play was that Keith was not on stage enough. The real tension of the play began when Keith, an African American, revealed to Ethan, who is Jewish, that he was sleeping with Ethan's sister, Cammy (Zehra Berkman). The race issue truly started hitting home for Ethan and for the audience when Ethan's closet racism began to emerge.
Although for the rest of the play most of the tension revolves around the relationship of Keith, Cammy and Ethan, the play spends much of its beginning establishing the relationship between Ethan and his wife Andi (Michelle Mountain). Although Mountain lacked the acting presence of Rhoze and Birkenhead, her performance only offered up a microscope to what became the glaring shortcoming of the play.
The opening sequence, where African Americans and Jews paint on the Crown Heights Unity Wall in turn, was an engaging and hypnotic hook that kept the audience going far into the Anna Deveare Smith (Jennifer Jones) interview. The play lost most of its steam during Ethan and Andi's somewhat uninspired argument about what to do with their future. Considering a baby was on the way, they were in debt and had private motives on whether they should continue to live in the city, you would think Ethan and Andi could find a passionate chord from which to disagree.
However, Andi's presence seems only to provide colorization for plot, not to provide tension. The one scene where there was any potential to create a serious rift between Andi and Ethan (in the second act where Andi decides to go for a walk) never fully develops its tension on stage. We learn that behind-the-scenes Andi decides to move away. We learn that behind-the-scenes Andi and Ethan have made up. Instead Ethan's tension with Andi gets transferred to Cammy - "What did you say to her?"
In the end, this is not a story about a troubled marriage. It is about a friendship that tries to cross two significant boundaries, that of race and the idea of sharing a friend with someone in your family. It's about the difference between truth and fact, and how we come to grips with the past. When Ari Roth focuses on these issues, the play reaches its expected levels and the effect is powerful. When Roth strays away from these lines, the story just seems to plod along without a focused sense of direction.
Zehra Berkman as Cammy deserves special recognition. Described as a "Performance Network regular" in the program, Berkman more than held her own against the two more accomplished actors, Rhoze and Birkenhead. Giving Cammy a sense vulnerability while continuing to be engaging and feisty, Berkman provided the play with some of its most powerful moments.
All in all, the production was a good one. McCauley succeeded in rendering the strong moments of the play with passion. The set (Daniel C. Walker) was simple but creative. Anything more elaborate might have been distracting. When this play gets to New York City, hopefully it will be in a more focused and concise form. It could be the difference between a very good play and a great one.
Peter Birkenhead and Tim Rhoze star in Ari Roth's "Goodnight Irene."