Lobby Hero
Reviewed by David Ellivloc
Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero is a four-hander, a play written for only four speaking parts, which allows him to delve deeply into each character, showing us their fronts, flaws, fights, and true faces. Rover Dramawerks’ production of Lonergan’s Lobby Hero is marvelous. Director Carol Rice’s telling of this tale of four troubled travelers, who traverse the lobby of a large Manhattan building every day, is taught with tension. Rice is also the Set Designer and she, along with Scenic Artist Kasey Bush and Master Carpenter Jason Rice, have created a convincingly cold and austere marble clad lobby, furnished simply with two large, padded benches and a security desk.
Jeff, played by Sinan Beskok, is the title’ s Lobby Hero, as he’s the night man on the lobby security desk. Tightly clutching a paperback, he sits at the desk reading and it’s obvious from Beskok’s body language that Jeff’s immediate challenge is merely staying awake. In strolls Emmanuel Turner’s William and you can tell from his uniform, which matches Jeff’s, that he’s security, too. It’s their nonverbal communication that reveals the complexity of their relationship, as Turner’s William, who is senior to Beskok’s Jeff, has been mentoring him with great care, and they’ve become friends of a sort, yet he’s still Jeff’s boss. Theirs is a true see-saw relationship and what’s beautiful about it is Beskok and Turner not only make clear the ways in which they annoy and disappoint each other, but they also make plain why Jeff and William remain friends despite those frustrations.
The play’s two other vestibule visitors are bona fide policemen, well one is, while the other is a three-months-in probationary woman rookie cop. Savannah Lloyd’s diminutive Dawn is the rookie, and she enters the area outside the building breathless, gripping her slipping bravado, having just used her night stick on a huge drunk who rushed her in a bar. Lloyd’s Dawn careens back and forth between tough and tender, with a saucy saunter, as she looks admiringly and perhaps longingly to her partner and mentor, the older, possibly wiser, and definitely married, Bill, for reassurance. Here again, Rice has cast two consummate actors who play off each other and make us believe in the complexity of their relationship, which is perhaps more than just partners or mentor and mentee. Nolan Spinks’ Bill is a man full of himself, who wants help others, yet is not above helping himself as well, oft without regard for the consequences for others.
Each actor is true-to-life and exposes a great range of emotions as they give life to their characters. Beskok’s Jeff is at times naïve, annoying, amusing, foolish, caring, brutally honest and a liar extraordinaire. Turner’s William is wise, kind, cruel, demanding, forgiving, lonely, angry, a straight arrow and a pragmatist. Lloyd’s Dawn is strong, weak, sexy, sad, joyous, naïve, caring and conniving. Spinks’ Bill, is downright menacing at times as he plays at being the Super Cop. You believe everything their characters do and you see exactly why they did it. It’s as if we the audience are the all-seeing yet oft-forgotten security cameras that are now in every real-world marble vestibule, to which the observed are oblivious.
This is not a play with big events. Indeed, most events happen offstage, including the key event--a murder, while on stage we see how these characters deal with the aftermath. What Lonergan offers us, and what the talented cast and director make so clear, are the struggles of these flawed characters as they try to determine what is right and decide if the cost of doing right is one they are willing to pay.
Be the hero of your own enjoyment and go see Rover Dramawerks’ production of Lobby Hero - a most interesting and surprising play with great acting and characters worth caring about. Who knew a security guard could be so interesting? Tickets can be found at roverdramawerks.com
Running Time: 2 and 15 minutes including intermission
Accessible seating: Available
Hearing Devices Available: Not Available
Sensory Friendly Showing: Not Available
Audience Rating: PG-13 due to sexual references and innuendo
Production Sound Level: Comfortable Volume Level
Noises and Visuals to Know About: No
See you at the theater!
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