"Ordinary People"

You remember the movie, right?

IMDB page for "Ordinary People"

I thought it was a major snoozefest, in spite of a stellar cast.

But, the play is something else again. Adapted from the novel by Nancy Gilsenan, it is a tight piece of drama. Co-directed by Johanna Whitmore and Charles Hobby, this production rocks!

The Jarretts are an affluent and privileged family. Cal (Ismael Soto) is a lawyer, and Beth (Jordan Baker) spends most of her time at The Club. Conrad (Michael Fariss) is tense and edgy. As the story unfolds, we find out that Conrad has been in an institution for a few months, because he tried to kill himself. Further, we find that Conrad had an older brother who drowned in a sailing accident. Beth's way of "dealing" is to pretend life is normal. She just goes on, to The Club, where she organizes tournaments and plays golf and bridge. Cal, her husband, searches for peace in the bottom of a glass. Conrad is riddled with guilt, and isolated from his friends.

Conrad is trying to put his life back together with very little help from his family. He finds that he can't resume his activities, because his brother's death and his own attempted suicide have changed him, and he no longer fits in his old life.

After his stay in the hospital, which apparently included electro-shock therapy, Conrad has been advised to visit a psychiatrist, Dr. Berger (Brendan Toungate). The doctor is not your garden variety psychotherapist. He is young and hip, with just the right touch of cynicism. As he and Conrad build a relationship, Conrad gradually starts to find himself, and to find his life worth living. Eventually, he quits the swim team, learns that his friendship with a girl from the hospital isn't viable on the outside, acquires a girlfriend, and accepts that his brother's death was not his fault.

The play ends with Conrad and Cal sitting at the bar, and Beth has just walked out. In spite of Conrad's failure to reach his mother, the audience is left with the feeling that father and son will be all right.

Beth is a character everyone knew back in the 70s. Full-time home maker and mother, she likes everything just so, and is derailed by the death of her favorite son and the attempted suicide of the only son she has left. Control is her middle name. Cal is scared. He has lost one son, and the other one could off himself at any moment. No wonder he drinks a lot. Conrad can't deal with any of the mess. Dr. Berger is the Fiddler on the Roof; the catalyst.

The tight ensemble cast includes Aaron Lofton, as Joe Lazenby, the friend who sticks by Conrad even when Conrad doesn't want him to, Eric Isenhower as Stillman, a swim team member who is a typical bullying jerk, Kelsey Fritz as Jeannine Pratt, Conrad's girlfriend, Allison Landry as Karen Aldrich, Conrad's friend from the hospital and Nathaniel Hailu as Salan, the swimming coach.

The music is a constant reminder that we are in the late 1970s, when polyester was king and therapy was just another dirty word.

I keep reading about the stigma of suicide, and maybe I'm just lucky, but I have not experienced it yet. However, that stigma was rife in the late 70s. At the time this play was set, only about 20% percent of marriages ended in divorce, and less than 30% of mothers were in the workforce. From a modern perspective, Beth is not a typical wife and mother, though she was, in the 70s.

There were a few opening night bobbles, but this is a really good show.

Michael was one of Jim's students at Cedar Valley, and he and Kelsey and Brendan have been in shows at Sam Bass.

Also, you know what Brendan has been through recently and Michael lost his brother in an accident a couple of years ago.

This is a highly-charged drama, and well worth seeing.

It plays at the RRISD PAC at McNeil High School on Wednesday, October 17th, Thursday the 18th and Saturday the 20th. Tickets are at the door, $8 for adults and $5 for students. Showtime is 7:30 PM, but be there by seven, as it's open seating.