THEATER REVIEW: 'Good People'

Money makes the world go ’round. When the money stops, the world stops. For some folks, losing a job is the end of the world. Case in point: Margie Walsh (Denise Cormier), the protagonist of David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Good People,” the latest offering at the Asolo Rep. She’s a Southie (South Boston Irish) and a middle-aged, single mom struggling with a disabled adult daughter. Her bad situation gets worse when a callow young manager (Jory Murphy) fires her from her job at the Dollar Store. The exit interview takes place by the dumpster.

Her world having ended, Margie plays a wild card. She pops in on an old flame — Mike (Tim Grimm), a smart kid from the neighborhood who made good. (Got out, in other words.) He’s a successful doctor now. So, she heads for the nice part of town, does an end run around the receptionist and asks Mike for a job. He has none to give. Margie responds with insults to his “lace curtain Irish” success. To get her off his back and prove his authenticity, Mike invites her to a party with his rich pals — maybe somebody has a job, who knows? When Mike’s child gets sick, Margie gets a call that the party’s canceled. She doesn’t buy it and shows up anyway. There’s no party, but Margie meets his African-American wife, Kate (Tyla Abercrumbie), who insists she stay while Mike squirms. The evening starts with wine and witty banter and ends with bitter argument and dark revelations. Upton Sinclair is mentioned. Margie doesn’t get a job.

This simmering Boston stew isn’t as grim as it sounds. The playwright shot to fame with his Pulitzer Prize-winning “Rabbit Hole,” a sad, shattering tale of loss. If you’re expecting more of the same, don’t. This is more like an episode of “Shameless,” minus the mayhem.

Still, another director might approach the material as heavy, “Playhouse 90”-style social commentary. Greg Leaming plays it for laughs. The laughs are on the page, not imposed by the director. Gallows humor, to be sure. But laughs nonetheless.

Some wicked fine performances here. If Cormier is middle-aged, I’m a teenager. But who cares? She puts in a winning take on the pugilistic Margie, a fighter on the ropes but not down for the count. “Fighter” doesn’t mean scenery-chewer. Her character’s smart, self-controlled and ethical — except when she isn’t. Grimm’s Mike could easily have been a strawman. But he plays his character sympathetically. Nice guy, smart, dry sense of humor. He almost gets you on Mike’s side. Abercrumbie has precious few scenes, but she manages to convey a lifetime of history and a world of inner thought. As the bingo-addicted supporting cast, Peggy Roeder, Anne-Marie Cusson, and Murphy all give their share of comic relief.

The engine driving the action is class, American style. Our meritocracy runs on the notion that the successful are a better class of people, either by natural talent or hard work. So, Mike thinks his success was a choice; Margie thinks he got lucky; and that’s what the fight is about. This may smell like polemics, but it plays like an old family argument — one that long predates the “You didn’t build that,” “Yes, I did” flap.

That shouting argument in Mike’s house is the main event. Don’t look for a clear resolution. Margie speaks ugly truth; fights dirty with an ugly lie; comes clean. Mike faces his dumb luck but still thinks he’s a self-made man. The fight ends with no decision.

A lesser playwright would close with a melodramatic, climactic bang — some stunning revelation or another crime scene for the Boston Police Department. But the shotgun over the mantle never gets fired. Lindsay-Abaire ends the play with the anticlimax of real life.

Margie, still jobless, winds up with her Southie pals in the bingo hall. There’s a small note of grace in the form of rent money. It’s not a final answer, but it’s answer enough for now.

Until the rent comes due again.

IF YOU GO
“Good People” runs through March 1, at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Call 351-8000 or visit asolorep.org for more information.