by Jim Dorman
Is Topher Payne’s “Perfect Arrangement” a comedy or a tragedy? Well, no one gets married or dies at the end, but there is plenty of laughter and tears in this drama about life in the 1950’s for people who don’t quite fit the criteria for societal norms.
Philip Markella directs “Perfect Arrangement” at the North River Theater (through November 30) using nearly the same cast that performed it with the Bay Players in 2024. It’s an unusual situation that works out well for the patrons at North River. The cast is well prepared and ready to rock or swing with both the comic and serious sides to this play about being gay when it was not okay to admit it.
Topher Payne is an American playwright and screenwriter who grew up in Mississippi, but is based in Atlanta. “Perfect Arrangement” was one of his earliest plays. When it appeared off Broadway in 2015, it had already won the American Theater Critics Association Award for Best New Play by an Emerging Playwright.
Payne loves to reel his audience in with laughter while planting the seeds for the more serious message he is trying to convey. And he does that superbly with “Perfect Arrangement.” The early going is often hilarious. Later on, not so much.
The setting is 1950 in Washington, DC. The set looks like it could be an episode of “I Love Lucy.” It’s the apartment of Bob and Millie Martindale (Bill Carter and Sara Daly) who frequently host their hallway neighbors, Jim and Norma Baxter (Brian Cosgrove and Christa Dunn) and occasionally, Bob’s boss at the State Department Human Resources Office – Theodore Sunderson (Ted Lillys) and his wife Kitty (Denise Feeney). We learn quickly that the Martindales and Baxters are in marriages of convenience to keep up appearances and hold on to their jobs and places in society. The real couples are Bob and Jim, and Millie and Norma.
Christa Dunn and Katherine Smith in “Perfect Arrangement” (North River Theater)
In 1950 Senator Joe McCarthy linked homosexuality and other so-called deviant behavior to national security. His efforts to rid the government of homosexuals became known as the Lavender Scare, an offshoot of the anti-communist Red Scare. Many thought gay people were vulnerable to blackmail, and perhaps they were. If found out, they were let go. The government aggressively investigated to identify anyone they were suspicious of, without due process. If they decided you were gay, you lost your job, and probably had trouble finding another one. It might seem like a long time ago, but the ban stayed in place until 1975 and wasn’t fully lifted until 2017. Some are comparing President Trump and Pete Hegseth’s current effort to remove transgender people from the military, a new Lavender Scare.
“Perfect Strangers” does a fantastic job of expressing the humor, absurdity and devastation of trying to live and survive during these times as a gay person. In the early going, the pace is farcical with comings and goings, surprise visits and revelations. The cast is wonderful at this, but unlike some farces where it’s just frenetic and not really funny, the comedy comes more from their acting ability than the mad cap situations. These actors are so good at timing and expressing a line just right, showing discomfort, or hitting their marks. They even do some nifty fake tv commercials for the household products they use every time one comes up in conversation.
Daley is so good at showing us how annoying it is for Millie to pretend to enjoy spending an afternoon with Kitty (her husband’s boss’s wife) in an attempt to keep up appearances while having to lie her way through. The eyerolls, fake compliments and awkward exchanges are delicious. Feeney is great as Kitty, a caricature of a ditzy 50s housewife complete with a mink stole and a clueless conforming attitude. Later, Millie will find out Kitty has something she doesn’t like to necessarily talk about, and maybe isn’t as shallow as we thought. “I found if you simply say, ‘Sometimes things just don’t work out,’ it’s enough,” she explains during a chat with Millie about not having children. It’s a poignant moment.
Daley (Millie) also has great chemistry with Dunn (Norma), as their characters navigate their daily subterfuge and then enjoy their alone time. This relationship shows us why this is so important. They really love each other. Norma aptly expresses the frustration of having to have a cover story for their lives. “When we are out getting manicures with Kitty Sunderson and gossipping about our husbands, I am frankly underwhelmed by my existence,” says Dunn as she cuddles with Daley on the couch.
Carter (Bob) and Cosgrove (Jim) are also good together, especially at showing the reality that the professional calamity being outed will cause them. Bob is the human resources manager at the state department and Jim is a teacher. Both would lose their jobs. The savage irony is that Bob has to terminate the people who are deemed deviant. Together, they create the real tension that needs some sort of resolution to this mess. Is there a resolution? What can they do? Carter strongly expresses the frustration and even anger towards all the pressure. Cosgrove handles the softer, humorous and more heartbreaking facets with ease.
Despite the pressure that is building, Cosgrove and Dunn continually give us a chuckle whenever they appear or retreat from the Martindale’s closet which has a passage to the Baxter’s apartment. They literally come out of the closet.
Katherine Smith (Barbara Grant) elegantly intensifies the drama as the disgraced government interpreter who has been called home because she’s single and enjoys the company of many lovers. She isn’t shy about it, but now she’s paying the price. She also thinks Millie looks quite familiar and she is sure she knows her from someplace. Hmmm! Millie knows how and where, and Daly and Smith do a delectable dance of inquiry and deception while they sort it out. Smith provides a formidable presence and dose of reality for the two couples.
It all comes to a head when Lillys (Theodore Sunderson), who comes off as a Joe McCarthy surrogate, forces Bob to act on a situation he uncovers at the office, which forces everyone to deal with reality. Lillys hits all the right notes as the diligent do-right.
Unfortunately, in the 1950’s all you can really do is hope that someday things will change.
“Perfect Arrangement” is an entertaining, thought provoking and riveting play, handled well by Markella and his cast. Worth noting is the classic 1950’s set design by Mike Pezella, Alison Hutchinson’s fabulous costumes, and James Koonce’s cool musical selections including some by Bing Crosby. They all set the tone for taking us back to a time that wasn’t as simple or great as many like to think.
North River uses reserved table seating. You can bring in your own snacks and the pleasant waitstaff will serve you drinks from the reasonably priced bar before the show and during intermission.
http://www.northrivertheater.org
https://nrtnorwell.ludus.com/index.php
Leave a Reply