Review: THE GUYS at Ironweed Productions At Teatro Paraguas

Imagine you’re an NYFD Chief on Tuesday, September 11, 2001

And you have the day off.

And your best friend is in charge when the first plane hits the Twin Towers.

Fast forward to a week later, and as Chief you are now tasked with writing eulogies for that best friend, and the rest of the men you lost on 9/11, none of whom have been recovered. Where would you begin to start?

This is the premise of The Guys, an incredibly powerful and engrossing two-person one act produced by Ironweed Productions now playing at Teatro Paraguas in Santa Fe.

The story begins with Joan (Karen Leigh), a well to do mother and wife who lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. As she begins to tell her “where were you” account about that morning, I notice members of the audience nodding and nudging one another – if we were old enough to remember that day, we are all immediately back there.

Joan’s children are grown and she seems to be in a comfortable place in life, but the events surrounding the terrorist act make her feel both helpless and wanting to help. She hears about the multitudes of firefighters and volunteers to help Officer Nick (Scott Harrison) write his memorials.

The action takes place over a few days where the two of them piece together the lives of Nick’s company – from the rookie still on probation to the man about to make Lieutenant, Nick has to give each and every person in his company a meaningful and memorable sendoff, for their families and friends.

Each of the firefighter’s stories start slow and over just a few probing questions from Joan, start to come to life. The dialogue between Joan and Nick is both engaging and easy, allowing the audience to become engulfed in the story.

Both actors deserve many accolades for not only creating such fully formed people on that stage, but for learning and making the voluminous dialogue sound  natural and conversational. Both actors are locked in to their performances from start to finish.  Big praise to both Harrison and Leigh for their hard work. Kudos as well to dialect coach Will Van Mossevelde – Harrison’s New York working-class accent is spot-on and seamless.

The set, costumes, sound (Larry Ryan) and lighting (Monique LaCoste – Lighting Designer) are minimal but do exactly what they need to do to enhance the story.  One exciting thing that Ironweed has done with this production is to have director Emily Rankin mentor a young artist in directing; Lucy Felt acts as Production Stage Manager and also worked closely with Rankin throughout the entire process. This type of mentoring is so imperative for young artists, especially in a state with limited resources and opportunities to work in this capacity. Both Rankin and Felt should be proud of their work and of this production.

For anyone concerned that this play may dredge up unpleasant memories, I urge you to take the time to see it. The Guys brings a new layer of healing to what is more than likely one of the worst days in any of our lives. It makes you remember when we came together, sometimes with total strangers, and were one.

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