“Exit Strategies,” a play by Denver’s , explores the effects of dishonesty within a family, excavating old wounds and new half-truths to determine who’s pushing away and who’s grasping at some sort of relationship.
* * * ½ Stars | Drama
It also probes the inclination of writers to hide behind words, to be more comfortable behind a keyboard than among people: “Words are cold and dead and fixed, and that is why I love them,” says Chase, the grown gay son who works as a playwright.
The four-person work won last year’s new play festival at The Edge Theatre and now gets a full production through Dec. 27, directed by Kate Marie Folkins.
Neuman finds humor and pain (plus booze and even a bit of bloodshed) in the story of a dysfunctional lower-middle-class Jewish family whose wordplay can be ruthless. Everything is grist for the writer’s work. Clever mirroring of life/art runs through the scenes as the characters wonder how the story might go and how it might end, in play form.
“I hate the way you wrote me in your last play,” Sheryl (Emma Messinger) tells her son Chase (Andrew Uhlenhopp). You can feel his next play taking shape here and now.
“Not everything is theater,” Chase’s sister Rachel (Emily Paton Davies) chides him.
But of course it is.
Chase Gold is his L.A. name, his reinvented glib self. Born Nathan Goldfarb, he has turned to vodka and clever repartee to keep emotions (and relatives) at bay.
On the eve of his father’s funeral, Chase arrives at his downscale childhood home in upstate New York with a female escort in tow. They have a lot in common, namely a flair for snark and a certain detachment. When Chance’s sister Rachel arrives, estranged from the family but hoping for some kind of rapprochement with her big brother, old secrets and grudges erupt. The Rachel-Sheryl faceoff is heartbreaking, and it’s not the only smackdown.
The play pushes us to consider how much we want to know about our family truths. How much can we admit and how much can we forgive?
Neuman’s alternately funny, emotionally raw and tragic work gets a boost from the formidable talents at the Edge. Uhlenhopp is at ease as the facile Chase, the cool, distant and alcoholic wordsmith. Messenger creates a complex character as the needy, loving and rejecting mom; she’s alternately hilarious and pathetic.
Davies does well with the least formed character; she telegraphs angst even when she stares into space, shaking her head as the traumatized daughter and searching sister. And Missy Moore, adding spice as Kai the hooker, carries a wide array of wisecracking and nurturing moments as the stranger — and facilitator — on the scene.
Folkins keeps the tension building through the show with no intermission, although there’s a bit of a lull after Sheryl (Messinger) retires to her bedroom and her pills.
Everyone here seeks affirmation of some sort: Sheryl wants acknowledgment that it’s not easy being a parent. Rachel demands respect for dealing with difficult “recovered memory.” Kai insists she’s no different than anyone else in seeking control.
And witty Chase wants credit just for showing up.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or @ostrowdp
“EXIT STRATEGIES”
By Jeffrey Neuman. Directed by Kate Marie Folkins. With Andrew Uhlenhopp, Emma Messenger, Emily Paton Davies and Missy Moore. At The Edge Theatre, 1560 Teller Street, Lakewood, through Dec. 27. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Thursdays, Dec. 10 and 17 at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m. No performance on Dec. 25. Tickets $26 available online at theedgetheater.com or by calling 303-232-0363.
