The Alamo 

Reviewed by Julio Martinez 
Ruskin Group Theatre 
Through March 31 

Ian McRae’s The Alamo, premiering at Santa Monica’s Ruskin Group Theatre, is a noteworthy stage effort. Set in a neighborhood bar, The Alamo, in the blue-collar Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, bar owners Munce (Tim True) and wife, Carmen (Eileen Galindo) plan to upgrade the spot to appeal to a younger, more upscale crowd in the midst of a wave of gentrification. The ensuing conflict with long-time bar regulars — ex-cop Joey (Bobby Costanzo), retired sanitation worker Dominic (John Lacy), and diabetic Tick (Jack Merrill) — creates a theatrically vivid canvass to explore the evolution of these emotionally entrenched people whose concepts of normalcy have been ripped from their lives after living through 9/11 and its emotional aftermath.

The mood is enhanced greatly by John Iaccovelli’s set design; the lived-in setting gives evidence of the years of booze and comradeship that have spilled over into the lives of its patrons. This feeling is further complemented by the sound design of Chip Bolcik. Costanzo’s Joey serves as a competent narrator, offering colorful background and context to the proceedings, which includes his mourning the loss of his kid brother in Vietnam. Meanwhie, and Mary (Milica Govich), who lost her first-responder husband on 9/11, is resentful that Munce and Eileen want to hire their daughter Micaela (Kelsey Griswald, alternating with Julia Arian) to help convert the bar.

Director Kent Thompson creates a tantalizing rapport among the patrons, creating a free-flowing intimacy that appears to be forged by the years of mutual travails, star-crossed romances, racial and ethnic tensions, and the pervasive feeling that their little village is a minor clog within a great metropolis.

Unfortunately, the playwright takes a pair of huge sidesteps in the second act that irrevocably misshape the arc of the play. The revelation of the youthful romance between Costanzo’s Bobby and Galindo’s Carmen is award-worthy in its portrayals, but its length and intensity completely warps the scenic balance that had been created in the first act. Then, McRae’s introduction of a new character, Claudine (Nancy Georgini), introduces a decidedly heavy subject to the proceedings. Both of these scenic inputs should have been balanced with the same scenic rhythm as everything that came before, which would have further enhanced the play’s depiction of a community in the throes of relentless evolution.  

Ruskin Group Theatre, 3000 Airport  Ave., Sants Monica; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through March 31. (320) 397-3244(320) 397-3244(320) 397-3244397-3244 or www.ruskingrouptheatre.com. Running time: two hours and 10 minutes with one intermission.