Review: Dark at the Top of the Stairs at 2nd Story Theatre

Dark at the Top of the Stairs was written by William Inge and opened to commercial and critical review on Broadway in 1957. The story revolves around the Floods, a working class family in a small town in Oklahoma, near Oklahoma City. The oil boom of the 1920's is in full swing and has left the Flood family behind.

The family's patriarch, Rubin Flood (Mark Gentsch), is a traveling harness salesman, not exactly a growth industry in the Henry Ford era. His wife Cora (Carol Schlink) tends to the house and hovers over their two children. Their daughter Reenie (Amy Thompson) is sixteen and their son Sonny (Evan Kinnane) is ten. Early in the play Cora comments about the children that "sometimes they act like they didn't have a father".

Knowing that the story is somewhat autobiographical is what grabs the audience. We do learn a lot about the family, which makes us think that we are getting to know a little about the playwright, Inge. We learn that the Flood's marriage is not a happy one, and hasn't been for a while. We learn that Cora's sister Lottie (Paula Faber) and her husband Morris (Frank Justin) also have an unhappy marriage.

There is very little plot for the main characters: a business trip that ends badly for Rubin and a society dance that ends badly for coming-of-age Reenie.

In this little part of the world, putting peroxide in one's hair is scandalous, trumped only by the audacity of a Jew who thinks he is good enough to step foot in the local country club. Sammy Goldenbaum (Ryan Maxwell) is a minor character who escorts Reenie to a birthday party at the club and commits suicide after being publicly humiliated at the party. This character's suicide may or may not foreshadow Inge's own suicide in 1973.

A subplot that runs through the play is that 10 year old Sonny is a sissy, who can spend hours on end looking at dramatic studio photos of his favorite movie stars such as Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino. Sonny is starved for male affection and bonds immediately, and tragically, to Reenie's date, Sammy. The boy's apparent, budding, sexual awareness; mixed with an absent father, is presented subtly and with great impact. It is a terrific performance by young Evan Kinnane, which speaks directly to Ed Shea's direction. I spent much of the performance wondering just how much Kinnane understands about his character.

In the script, Cora was swept off of her feet at age 17 by Rubin. The couple got married only weeks after they met, due to Cora's pregnancy. While Carol Schlink plugs through her role as Cora, who is the play's central character, she is mis-cast. This, unfortunately, distracts from her performance.

Most of the actors' dialogue was not quite conversational when I saw the production. I expect that this will improve quickly.

Mark Genstch gives a fine performance in the much smaller role of Rubin. Paula Faber and Frank Justin also turn in good performances as Lottie and Morris, respectively.

Ryan Maxwell has a small, but pivotal, role as Sammy. Sammy's monologue seems unconnected and strangely out of place in the play, but Maxwell nails it.

In even smaller roles, Erin Sheehan as Reenie's friend Flirt and Brian Hebert as her date Punky, have little to do but hit their marks and say their lines. That is, after all, half the battle. They each do fine.

Trevor Elliot's set design consists of a set of stairs, which are decidedly not scary (contrary to the implication of the play's title) and two entrances; all painted beige with oversized images of William Inge's family. The images were projected onto the set and painted by Candis Dixon. In concept, it is groundbreaking and fascinating. In execution, the set was beige-box. Stark.

2^nd Story's Artistic Director Ed Shea has an affinity for Inge's plays and does a fine job interpreting them. This production easily retains much of what makes William Inge's work so compelling.

Dark at the Top of the Stairs runs through April 5 at 2nd Story Theatre in Warren RI. Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased by calling (401) 247-4200 or visiting the box office at 28 Market St., Warren, RI.

Photo: Cora Flood (Carol Schlink, left) calms her son Sonny (Evan Kinnane, right)

Photo credit: 2ndStory Theatre/Richard W. Dionne, Jr.

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