Review: THE WHALE at The Gaslight Theatre

Being Human is difficult. Often, it is said that the human spirit is irrepressible. People may struggle but can usually deal effectively with grief and life-shattering disappointments with help from friends, family, or mental health professionals. But what happens when humans choose a path of self-destruction, refuse help and wallow in sadness and broken heartedness?  

Samuel L. Hunter’s play THE WHALE examines how loss, displaced grief, anger, a failed marriage, and the deepest desire to have a relationship with an estranged child leads to binge eating as a coping mechanism. The protagonist, Charlie, a college writing tutor teaches online classes because he can no longer leave his home due to his monstrous weight. For his online lectures, Charlie does not use a video camera, he teaches using only a microphone and doesn’t allow his students to see how grossly overweight he’s become.  His weight exceeds 600 pounds. He is in the final stages of congestive heart failure. Charlie has accepted his life is over, refusing medical intervention.  

Charlie is surrounded by other broken people, each dealing with their own self-destructive behaviors. His estranged daughter, Ellie, is a bitter and mean pot-smoking high-school student who expresses her anger through brutal on-line bullying. Mary, Charlie’s only friend, is a co-dependent ancillary health care worker who is caring for Charlie while enabling his behavior by bringing grotesque amounts of unhealthy foods to the morbidly obese man. Charlie’s ex-wife Liz is dealing with her own resentment issues by fostering Ellie’s estrangement and keeping their only child from Charlie. Finally, there is a baggage laden Mormon missionary, Elder Thomas, who randomly happens onto Charlie’s doorstep, and is forced to help him during an episode of cardiac distress.  

The St. Louis Actors’ Studio production of THE WHALE, directed by Annamaria Pileggi, is a phenomenal production of a script that at its core deals with the fragility of the human condition. While the subject matter isn’t light, Pileggi tells Charlie’s story through his failing but optimistic and loving heart. As he struggles to find the good in himself, his sense of optimism allows him to find the best in others. He even manages to assign a silver lining to his daughter’s heinous behavior.  

William Roth (Charlie), encumbered by a massive body suit to represent Charlie’s overwhelming obesity, brings Charlie’s spirit and positive energy to life. Sure, Roth’s physical representation of the struggles of super obesity is magnificent. He shows Charlie’s inability to rise from a seated position, his shuffled gait, the shortness of breath from pulmonary edema, the acute episodes of chest pain due to his failing heart, and his grotesque gluttonous eating. But it is not Roth’s brilliant physical acting that gives Charlie his humanistic center, it’s the way Roth expresses Charlie’s emotions through his eyes. Roth allows the audience to see who Charlie really is beneath 600 pounds of fat. It could be easy for an actor to give a decent portrayal of Charlie by donning prosthetics and relying on representing the limited physical abilities of an extremely obese person. Roth goes beyond in his performance creating a Charlie who is likeable. It's that part of Roth’s work that keeps this production from becoming morose. 

From L: Nadja Kapetanovich, Thomas Patric Riley, Lizi Watt, Colleen Backer, and William Roth

Pileggi found an emerging star when she chose to cast a teenager versus a youthful looking older actor to play the role of Charlie’s daughter Ellie. High-schooler Nadja Kapetanovich delivers an astounding performance, giving Ellie a hard, unlikeable edge. She paints Ellie as a vindictive and bitter teenager who is projecting her anger and disappointment by crucifying her parents and her peers on her web page. She derives great pleasure from ruining other people’s lives. Kapetanovich’s performance is realistically raw and unfiltered, creating a character who is reprehensible and wretchedly detestable.  

Colleen Backer (Liz), Lizi Watt (Mary), and Thomas Patrick Riley (Elder Thomas) also deliver performances with genuine authenticity. Backer plays Charlie’s caretaker Liz as a woman who has deep seeded resentment due to losses of her own. Her emotional outburst conveys long held grief and the powerful sense that she will be unable cope with more loss. She is keenly aware that she is a significant contributor to Charlie’s self-demise. Backer’s unsettling and melancholy performance expresses Liz’s fragile heart and creates pensive sadness. Watt’s Mary is an aggrieved and grudge-bearing ex-spouse. Her toxicity is palpable as is her sense that she somehow transferred her contempt to her daughter. Watt’s fervent performance is filled with immense anguish. Finally, Riley gives Elder Thomas the wide-eyed naivete of a late-teen ready to change hearts through his mission work. Riley’s performance is exceptional as we see his beaming eyes dim, and his cavernous dimples disappear as his baggage is unpacked. His work with Roth, Kapetanovich, and Backer is marvelous as he attempts to resist their pressure to change his viewpoint about religion and the Mormon faith.  

Patrick Huber’s scenic and lighting design, complimented by Kristi Gunther’s sound design splendidly added to the story. The messy set decoration clearly conveyed the filthy home of a person who is so morbidly obese they cannot keep up with housework. Huber’s attention to lighting detail is apparent when a character is putting groceries into a refrigerator and is illuminated by the fridge light as the door opens and closes. Emma Glose props design fantastically illustrated Charlie’s binge eating with buckets of fried chicken, large high-fat sandwiches wrapped in shiny tin foil, and two-liter bottles of sugary sodas. Her attention to detail added layers to the overall storytelling. Credit Light Board Operator Jeffery Roberts for terrific, between scene work fading to black between frequent scene changes. He never missed a cue.  

The body suit was a decent representation of a man with a 600-pound body, however there were a few missed opportunities with the costuming and make-up for Charlie. It would have added to the realism to have additional prosthetics for body parts. Roth’s thin hands poking from his sleeves did not illustrate the puffy hands and swollen digits of an end stage CHF patient who is retaining an immense volume of fluid. Similarly, his thin neck supporting his prosthetically made-up face didn’t completely represent the thick neck and bulbous sagging chin of a morbidly obese man. This small criticism isn’t meant to take away from Roth’s spectacular performance or the overall quality of the production, but the oversight was a constant reminder that Roth was a thin actor in a padded suit.  

This is an excellent production of a story that is difficult to watch. The direction is sharp, the acting is flawless, and the technical theatre quality is first-rate. The artists at St. Louis Actors’ studio have milked every bit of emotion they can wring from a strong script with, what was for me, a less-than-satisfying conclusion.  

St. Louis Actors’ Studio’s production of THE WHALE plays The Gaslight Theatre through April 21st. Click the link below to purchase tickets.  

PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Huber

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