Troy Dunn and Gifford Irvine (Photo by Paul M. Rubenstein)
Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
City Garage Theater
Through November 24
Written in 1942 by Eugene O’Neill, this short one-act was intended to be the first of a series of one-acts centered on the subject of death. Considering the complicated span of O’Neill’s other works like the monumental Long Day’s Journey into Night, Hughie has a welcoming simplicity about it, yet it has over the years attracted the stellar talents of Al Pacino, Forest Whitaker and the late Brian Dennehy.
It’s summer 1928, late night in the lobby of a downtown Manhattan transient hotel that has seen better days. The sofa chairs show obvious wear and much use; the bright coloring of the rugs has dimmed over time, and the striking varnish on the large wooden front desk has been marred by years of nicks and scratches. Sitting behind it staring blankly ahead is the night clerk (Gifford Irvine), whose stifling boredom is disrupted by the bumbling entrance of the stylishly dressed Erie (Troy Dunn), a minor-league gambler, horse bettor and spinner of outrageous yarns. He is a walking parcel of unrealized dreams and bluster.
He has been on an extended drinking binge because of the death of Hughie, the former night clerk of 15 years whom he was close to, perhaps the only thing approaching a substantive human connection he’s ever had. In fits and starts, Erie regales the clerk with stories about Hughie’s life and the times they shared together, but what also emerges is a stark, sad picture of Erie’s shallow, desperate existence.
Director Frederique Michel has added a layer to the narrative with the inclusion of the voice of a narrator (Nathan Dana Aldrich), who provides occasional insight, commentary and humor, which sometimes doesn’t work as well as it could because of audio glitches. Dunn’s performance is solidly convincing, as is Irvine’s, whose role is double cast. Charles Duncombe provides subtly effective lighting and an equally effective set design.
City Garage Theater, Building.T1, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica. Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun. 4 p.m. Running time: One hour, no intermission. Tickets www.citygarage.org
