Review: GOOD PEOPLE by Torrance Theatre Company Wraps its First Play-at-Home Series

As the last reading in their online Play-at-Home series of free online theatrical experiences, all designed to entertain our community during the stay-at-home orders, Torrance Theatre Company presented GOOD PEOPLE, written by David Lindsay-Abaire and directed by Sasha Stewart Miller on Sunday, August 9 The production was originally scheduled to be seen onstage in the middle of March 2020 at the group's intimate theater, located at 1316 Cabrillo Ave. in downtown Torrance, until COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the show just prior to its opening. The original as well as the online presentation featured cast members, Danielle Montreal, Melodie S. Rivers, Don Schlossman, Christine Seibert, Johnathan Strand, and Wendy Way.

GOOD PEOPLE centers on life in South Boston, a working-class neighborhood always falling on hard times, which is no joke for single mother Margaret Walsh. Fired from her job, facing eviction and with nowhere to turn, she and her grown, disabled daughter represent a large portion of today's society who are struggling to make ends meet. In order to keep going and a roof over their heads, Margie sets out to get a break from her young manager at The Dollar Store, the landlady with a craft business selling googly-eyed rabbits, or the man from her past, now a successful doctor, who left town at a crucial moment between them long ago. But will Margie have the strength to tell the truth when she asks each of them for the favors she needs or will she resort to her usual emotional manipulation?

With cutting humor and amazing realism, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsey-Abaire has created a loving portrait of his hometown and a relatable story of socioeconomic struggle. In the world of GOOD PEOPLE, acts of sacrifice and gestures of kindness come at the most surprising moments and from the most unexpected sources, posing questions we often ask ourselves; how important is the element of luck vs. hard work and what constitutes the fine line that blurs both ideologies?

The play is a good fit for an online reading as all scenes take place in confined quarters, be it in Margie's home over coffee at her kitchen table with friends Jean and Dottie, the back alley behind The Dollar Store where Margie is confronted about her late arrivals by her boss Stevie, at a basement bingo game table, or in the doctor's office and later his living room where Mike and Kate share their own observations about the fairness of life. With such strong characters and wordy dialogues, the cast must be able to speak from their hearts and souls to reveal their character's opinions and decisions about choice vs. fate, which is the focal point of the story, rather than extensive staging or choreography.

Frances McDormand won numerous accolades as Margie in the original Broadway production, including the Tony, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Circle awards as Best Actress, with the New York Drama Critics Circle awarding GOOD PEOPLE the Best Play of the 2010-2011 Season. And with Margie at the center of every scene, any actress taking on the role must be willing and able to put her own persona aside to fully engulf the wise-cracking "mouthie from Southie" whose outbursts fuel the fire in the play.

Director Sasha Stewart Miller is to be commended for her casting of the marvelously talented Christine Seibert who sinks her teeth into every scene, complete with South Boston accent, bringing the essence of Margie to the role. Melodie S. Rivers (Jean) and Wendy Way (Dottie) as her two "best" friends also accomplish the necessary Southie accent and attitudes, which include racial and almost every other kind of prejudice people from the "wrong side of the tracks" believe as a way to blame others from their own bad luck. Winning is a game to them, much like the bingo played in several scenes, with the winner taking all. And of course, everyone wants to be a winner, don't they?

Johnathan Strand portrayed Stevie, Margie's boss at The Dollar Store, who we realize only hired her as a favor to his mother who was Margie's friend. Strand lets us see Stevie as a man with little backbone until push comes to shove and he must do what is right to tow the line and keep his own job. But in the end, he is the "good" person who winds up lending a hand to Margie when the threat of living on the street 'up against a wall" becomes all too real. His mild demeanor in the presence of strong-willing women hides the heart of a lion.

Dr. Mike and his wife Kate are portrayed authentically by Don Schlossman and Danielle Montreal as an upwardly mobile couple whose marriage is dissolving around them. So when the unemployed Margie arrives at Mike's upscale Chestnut Hill house expecting a cancelled birthday party to still be taking place for the sole purpose of her hitting up guests for a job, the trio's over-wine-and-cheese conversation manages to get on the topic of Mike's life as a kid from the projects. Of course, it soon evolves into a shouting match worthy of an overly emotional "he said, she said" battle of wits with both truth and lies being tossed about. Seibert, Schlossman and Montreal are so brilliant in this scene together, it was easy to forget they were not really in the same room together!

GOOD PEOPLE takes us through looking at what it means to be comfortable financially in life when surrounded by societal inequities all around us, be it in the projects, Georgetown or upscale Boston. Is it fate that decides for us or is luck really the lady that takes charge of our lives? And what happens when what you said is not what someone else heard? Perhaps everything is just a matter of perception depending upon your circumstances in life? Or is everything the result of choices we make?

One thing is for sure: no matter how bad things may get, there is always hope around the next corner if you are willing to take the first step to get there.

Torrance Theatre Company's Play-at-Home series of free online theatrical experiences has been so popular with audiences, the group is putting another nine online performances to run September through December. To assist in "keeping the lights" on at their theater, this second set of plays will have a $20 per household fee, with a new play being presented every other week. Company members volunteer their time and talent to bring all types of plays to life via online platforms, and patrons can enjoy them from the comfort and safety of their own homes. For more information about the series, please visit www.TorranceTheatreCompany.com/playathome

Torrance Theatre Company is a program of the Cultural Services Division of the Torrance Community Services Department. www.TorranceCA.Gov. Sponsored in part by Friends of Torrance Theatre Company. www.TorranceTheatreCompany.com.

Online production photos taken by Shari Barrett

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