Bill W. and Dr. Bob

Reviewed by G. Bruce Smith
Theatre 68
Runs indefinitely

Alcoholics Anonymous — and its 12-step program — is so deeply embedded in our national culture that it has even been satirized and applied, tongue-in-cheek, to other “addictions” — from watching Game of Thrones to owning 12 cats. Less known is the story behind the two men who started AA, which has changed the lives of thousands, if not millions, of people. That story is currently onstage at Theatre 68, and while a somewhat interesting tale, it falls short as a compelling drama, despite opportunities to hit its audience in the gut.

The play covers the years from 1925 to 1939 in New York City and Akron, Ohio. The action follows Bill Wilson (Steven R. O’Brien), a brash New York stockbroker, and Dr. Bob Smith (Steve Gelder), a self-aware Akron surgeon, as they separately become alcoholics. In brief vignettes (more on that later), we get highlights of their lives — whether it’s secret drinking or blackouts or whiskey-fueled brawls in bars. Both men acknowledge they are alcoholics but resist efforts by their wives (Kieren van den Blink and Caron Strong) to stop drinking through religion or other methods. Bob, in particular, has an aversion to religion that is funny to watch.

Serendipitously, the two men meet in Akron when Bill, facing a failed business trip, is desperately wanting to talk to another “drunk” because he is sorely tempted to break his five-month sobriety. His instinctive belief that such connections are the best way to get past temptation lays the groundwork for what would become the sponsor aspect of AA.

By the time they meet, Bill is something of a temperance evangelist, but Bob initially resists Bill’s exhortations to quit drinking, even though Bill vows to support him. “You need another drunk to talk to, as much as he needs you,” he tells Bob.

The two men hit it off, and within short order, Bob quits drinking. Bill dreams of saving “hundreds, thousands, millions of people,” while the more practical Bob says, “Let’s start with one.” And it’s not a spoiler to point out that they do, indeed, successfully begin with one, which eventually multiplies by the thousands.

While the play is a workable biography of the men in the years leading to the birth of AA, it strays more into didacticism than engaging drama, largely because the scenes are so short that they fail to capture what must have been a series of deeply disturbing events with painful impacts on the men’s spouses and families. We often hear Bill and Bob express regrets for the injuries to their loved ones, but we don’t see it often enough. And in a couple of scenes where the playwrights (Stephen Bergman and Janet Surrey) start to dig into the muck of the effects of alcoholism (at one point Lois Wilson tells her husband “You don’t even have the decency to die”), the scene ends before it can build to a point where the audience can feel horror, much less compassion, for the characters and their struggles.

Perhaps the playwrights wanted to avoid melodrama, or pathos, but adopting an often light tone undercuts the impact of the struggles of addicts to be sober. This is not to say that the writers’ occasional use of humor throughout the story is misplaced or ineffective. But Bill W. and Dr. Bob would be more powerful if we could feel with deep compassion the arduousness of the protagonists’ journeys.

Both Steven R. O’Brien as Bill and Steve Gelder as Bob inhabit their characters well — Bill as the passionate man with a vision, and Bob, the pragmatic complement to Bill. Director Ronnie Marmo does his best with moving the action along despite all the starts and stops of short scenes followed by many blackouts.

Reportedly, Bill W. and Dr. Bob attracts many recovered alcoholics who, not surprisingly, find the play resonant. But for audience members who haven’t struggled with alcoholism first-hand, the play might be a pleasing biography but perhaps disappointing as a compelling dramatic work.

Note: The production is double-cast. Steven R. O’Brien, Steve Gelder, Kieren van den Blink, Caron Strong, Jon Luke Thomas and Danielle Montezinos on Sat., 8 pm & Sun., 2 pm; and Michael Rubenstone, Daniel T. McCann, Lisa LoCicero, Joyce Fidler, Paul S. and Kimberly Demarse on Fri., 8 pm & Sat., 3 pm.

Theatre 68 Arts Complex – BECKETT THEATRE, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood; Fri., 8 pm.; Sat., 3 pm & 8 pm.; Sun., 2 pm; runs indefinitely. billwanddrbobonstage.com. Running time: two hours with an intermission.