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Theater review: The Dark Heart of Dooley Stevens
A new play from Backyard Renaissance's artistic director Francis Gercke
Jessica John and MJ Sieber search for signs of life in the desert.
Dooley Stevens is a big man with a violent past, fresh out of the joint on a cycle that’s running on empty as he searches in the desert for something that he’s lost — or rather, for something that was taken from him by his gal Cindy. Cindy Blank, as she’s called in the program — are you picking up on what playwright Francis Gercke is putting down? Things signify here. For instance: Dooley’s got a pocket chock full of change. He’s a changed man, see? (Or at least, he hopes so.) He pulls a quarter out from behind Cindy’s ear — the magic is back, baby! He drops copious coins into a swear jar, plinking penances for losing control as he pleads with his ex to get his own back. And when he and Cindy find a well to wish in, well…
But if Dooley is a man on a recovery mission, Cindy is doing the Flight into Egypt — only without the child she’s supposed to protect. How did he even find her? This isn’t a fairy tale full of breadcrumb trails, and the phone isn’t even on the hook. The TV works only when you touch it, mostly. Sort of like how the fridge is full only when things are going well. Cindy is surprised by the bounty, but not as freaked out as she might be. If there was one consistent flaw in the preview performance I attended, it was that the tumbling rush of heartfelt (ha!) talk and crazy circumstances sent actors MJ Sieber and Jessica John racing through the big emotional beats without sufficient time to let them register — on each other or us. And there are big emotional beats — to go along with the big physical beatdowns. No Chekhov’s gun here: it gets fired like a starter’s pistol right at the outset. Laser sights threaten, wolves howl, and big things rumble through the sky overhead. Dooley isn’t the only one looking for Cindy.
And that brings us to the dark heart of the matter in Backyard Renaissance's latest: the kid. It’s one thing for Dooley to be an absentee father — especially when the only reason he went to jail was because some jerk was commenting on Cindy’s sexual habits. But what makes a mother flee the fruit of her womb? Remember, things signify here. For Dooley, the kid signifies the best of himself. For Cindy? Credit to Gercke for keeping the ultimate shape of the story out of sight for as long as he does; given the level of fantastical goings on, both happiness and heartbreak feel like real possibilities as the lovers sort through the grim realities of their shared past. Because if love can’t manage magical transformations, what can?
Here's something you might be interested in.
Theater review: The Dark Heart of Dooley Stevens
A new play from Backyard Renaissance's artistic director Francis Gercke
Theater review: The Dark Heart of Dooley Stevens
A new play from Backyard Renaissance's artistic director Francis Gercke
Jessica John and MJ Sieber search for signs of life in the desert.
Dooley Stevens is a big man with a violent past, fresh out of the joint on a cycle that’s running on empty as he searches in the desert for something that he’s lost — or rather, for something that was taken from him by his gal Cindy. Cindy Blank, as she’s called in the program — are you picking up on what playwright Francis Gercke is putting down? Things signify here. For instance: Dooley’s got a pocket chock full of change. He’s a changed man, see? (Or at least, he hopes so.) He pulls a quarter out from behind Cindy’s ear — the magic is back, baby! He drops copious coins into a swear jar, plinking penances for losing control as he pleads with his ex to get his own back. And when he and Cindy find a well to wish in, well…
But if Dooley is a man on a recovery mission, Cindy is doing the Flight into Egypt — only without the child she’s supposed to protect. How did he even find her? This isn’t a fairy tale full of breadcrumb trails, and the phone isn’t even on the hook. The TV works only when you touch it, mostly. Sort of like how the fridge is full only when things are going well. Cindy is surprised by the bounty, but not as freaked out as she might be. If there was one consistent flaw in the preview performance I attended, it was that the tumbling rush of heartfelt (ha!) talk and crazy circumstances sent actors MJ Sieber and Jessica John racing through the big emotional beats without sufficient time to let them register — on each other or us. And there are big emotional beats — to go along with the big physical beatdowns. No Chekhov’s gun here: it gets fired like a starter’s pistol right at the outset. Laser sights threaten, wolves howl, and big things rumble through the sky overhead. Dooley isn’t the only one looking for Cindy.
And that brings us to the dark heart of the matter in Backyard Renaissance's latest: the kid. It’s one thing for Dooley to be an absentee father — especially when the only reason he went to jail was because some jerk was commenting on Cindy’s sexual habits. But what makes a mother flee the fruit of her womb? Remember, things signify here. For Dooley, the kid signifies the best of himself. For Cindy? Credit to Gercke for keeping the ultimate shape of the story out of sight for as long as he does; given the level of fantastical goings on, both happiness and heartbreak feel like real possibilities as the lovers sort through the grim realities of their shared past. Because if love can’t manage magical transformations, what can?
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