Being a good guy is not easy these days. Hold a chair for your wife and you’re laughed at by folks at the next table. Give in to your wife’s request to use a coaster and you’re a patsy. Try to do the right thing and you’re considered weak. It’s all part of what your pal, a blue-collar subway worker, describes as the wussification of America — but using a cruder word.
* * * Stars | Comedy
In Bruce Graham’s “Any Given Monday,” a meditation on infidelity, family and (superficially) football, allegiance is a key value. Whether that allegiance is to the Dallas Cowboys, to old-school values or to a degree in philosophy, everyone must measure their loyalty. And then assess how far they would go to keep things in place.
Reassembling a broken marriage, reassessing a sense of faith or ethnic identity, re-evaluating a friendship — it’s all part of Graham’s funny/sad four-person play, currently running as the 85th production of Denver’s Vintage Theatre.
Robert Kramer dominates the quartet as Lenny, a nice guy (perhaps too nice?) whose wife has left him for a fancy-car-driving, self-involved real estate developer. Lenny mourns his loss passively, holed up in his Philadelphia basement. His pal Mickey (Peter Marullo), whose anger and resentment (not to mention racism) live at the surface, encourages Lenny to express his fury.
Like the surprising plot turn, the Jewishness of the family requires suspension of disbelief — as much a function of the script as the casting — and the Wittgenstein-spouting daughter’s monologues can feel overwritten (although well delivered by Kelly Dwyer as Sarah). Michelle Grimes is credible at the extremes, ranging from darkly humorous moments to desperation as Lenny’s wife, Risa.
Director Sam Gilstrap makes the most of the challenging space, spreading action across the wide, shallow stage, with Lenny’s man cave at the center and his wife and daughter firing from the end zones.
The audience, observing from the perspective of the flat screen, is asked to consider what counts as an act of conscience and when forgiveness is really possible. But it’s unclear what Lenny really believes, learns or achieves for himself. It’s apparently tough to be a good guy, but even tougher to act without being prompted by others.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or
“ANY GIVEN MONDAY”
By Bruce Graham. With Kelly Alayne Dwyer, Michelle Grimes, Robert Kramer and Peter Marullo. Directed by Sam Gilstrap. Through Oct. 25 at Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton Street, Aurora. Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 2:30 p.m.General admission tickets $28 ($24 advance). Box office 303-856-7830 or .
