Theater review: Comedy, tragedy, and time play to their strengths in Good Company Players’ ‘Chapter Two’
By Heather Parish
‘Comedy equals tragedy plus time” is one of those quotes attributed to many different comedic sources (Steve Allen, Mark Twain, Lenny Bruce among others), but few put it into practice as often as Neil Simon. His plays routinely dig into his life’s past unhappiness to anchor present comedy. Few of his plays do this as directly as “Chapter Two.” Theater companies everywhere could do no better than to place it in the hands of Dan Pessano, who is something of an expert on Simon’s work.
In the current Good Company Players’ production, Pessano directs the play to its strengths. The funny elements are very funny. The performances are naturalistic and witty. The drama is constructed with compassion and care. It only teeters in a few spots, but I believe those to be a product of the play itself and not this production, which is quite good. Produced in 1977 as an up-to-the-minute play, it now feels like one of Simon’s period pieces, featuring deeply human experiences colored by the lens of a specific time and place. A transitional moment in Simon’s career, this piece moves away from the situational wisecrackery of his TV-influenced plays and into the realm of the comedy-drama.
Comedy
“Chapter Two” tells the story of George Schneider (a sympathetically neurotic Terry Lewis), a writer upended by the death of his beloved wife but trying to rebuild his previous marital happiness with a new, slightly younger, love interest — actress and divorcée Jennie (a delicate and unpretentious Claira Broach).
Told in a series of alternating scenes in their two respective apartments, we get to know both George and Jennie and the different types of pain that drive them. George’s brother Leo (a big-hearted Henry Montelongo) and Jennie’s friend Faye (acerbic and earthy Leigh Ratliff) are pressuring each of them to start dating again. Only during a charming series of accidental phone calls do the two connect and decide to meet on their own terms. (The phone call conceit is among the most clever rom-com meet-cutes ever and one of my favorite parts of this play.)
The actors are splendid at delivering the many comedic beats of the script. Lewis begins in frustrated misery, relishing the opportunity to turn his grief into satirical pronouncements. His presence transforms upon interacting with Broach’s Jennie. Her placid energy balances Lewis’ anxious ticks throughout the first act. She approaches this new relationship with unwavering acceptance and good humor, managing wry, understated zingers that undercut Lewis’ more showy wordplay. Their act one interplay is a delight.
Of course, things unravel in the second act.
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Tragedy
Here Lewis and Broach have to navigate a different level of unspent emotion, and while each succeeds in doing so, the script seems unspecific in the precise roots of the conflict. Most of it happens off-stage, during their honeymoon, and never references the obvious mistakes in act one. Characters ask for something and then complain when they get it. Broach has more urgency in act two, but less clarity of motivation. Lewis makes George’s pain sympathetic, but not very interesting given the emotional risks that Jennie has taken to help him heal. It feels like Jennie and her actions only exist in relation to George, not to her own character. In my opinion, these are problems with the script and its era.
Added to all of this is the addition of a romantic B-plot with Leo and Faye. Montelongo and Ratliff are so fun to watch that we almost miss how their story doesn’t have much to do with the play as a whole. As foils for George and Jennie, Faye and Leo don’t make much sense. They offer some interesting observations on relationships, though, which almost makes it worth it.
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Plus Time
If all of this sounds rather drab, it isn’t. But it is Simon stretching his legs with more emotional subjects like grief, loss, and hope, to varying degrees of success. Pessano directs with his pulse firmly on the pace and dialogue, highlighting the very best of Simon’s wordplay and action. The dual-apartment box set by David Pierce has a throwback feel and illustrates the different characters’ lives and personalities well. Ginger Kay Lewis-Reed’s costumes generally speak to late 70’s fashions, but Broach’s costumes were perfectly on-point for a 32-year-old woman in 1977. She was so beautifully turned out with that Halston vibe, I rather wish some of it were given to Lewis’ outerwear.
While “Chapter Two” may not be a guidebook for relationships or playwriting, it offers a pleasing mix of emotion, human complexity, and (most importantly) Simon’s intricate wit. This production delivers on all counts 48 years later, proving that comedy does equal tragedy plus time.
Good Company Players’ “Chapter Two” runs through Feb. 23 at the 2nd Space Theatre.
Kay Pitts
Loved this play