"Good People" - by David Lindsay-Abaire - Worcester County Light Opera Company (Worcester, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: Elizabeth Anne Hylton as “Kate” meets Kate Moylan as “Margaret” in a scene from David Lindsay-Abaire's "GOOD PEOPLE" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through February 16, 2025. Photo Credit: Amy Mae Photography)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
“This is a DOLLAR STORE! Who do they THINK is gonna work here?”
- ("Margaret") / David Lindsay-Abaire
Worcester Count Light Opera Company
Presents David Lindsay-Abaire's
"GOOD PEOPLE"
Written by David Lindsay-Abaire
Directed by Dawn Davis
Produced by Ed Savage and Robin Shropshire
Stage Managers Rob Lynds, Kirsten Rourke
Cast Includes: Kate Moylan as “Margaret,” Kaven Matyczynski as “Stevie,” Susan Nest as “Dottie,” Stephanie Sarkisian as “Jean,” John Morello as “Mike,” Elizabeth Anne Hylton as “Kate.”
Additional Creative Team:
Set Design - Ed Savage; Scenic Artist - Jo Ann Savage; Set Construction - Ed Savage, Jo Ann Savage, Rob Lynds, Michael Wackell; Lighting Design - Matt Wasser; Costume Design - Andrea Davulis; Sound Design - Vic Kruczynski; Production Assistant - Peter Russo; Props - Robin Shropshire; Stage Crew - Rob Lynds, Peter Russo, Jo Ann Savage, Brenna Washburn.
Performances:
February 7, 2025 through February 16, 2025
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
WORCESTER COUNTY LIGHT OPERA COMPANY (WCLOC), Grandview Ave. Playhouse, 21 Grandview Avenue, Worcester, MA.
TICKETS:
508-753-4383 or visit admin@wcloc.org
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Worcester County Light Opera Company (WCLOC) hits one “outta Fenway Pahk” with their deep dive into life in a South Boston neighborhood in David Lindsay-Abaire’s "GOOD PEOPLE."
From a Dollar Store to a run down apartment to a church Bingo night to a fancy doctor’s office, "GOOD PEOPLE" follows the trials and tribulations of single mom Margaret (Kate Moylan), aka “Margie” (hard "g" sound), a lifelong resident of Southie, a primarily blue-collar Boston neighborhood.
Margie is fired as a cashier from the Dollar Store by Stevie (Kaven Matyczynski) for repeatedly tardiness, leaving her not knowing how she will continue to pay rent while taking care of her “challenged” adult daughter Joyce.
Matyczynski gives a sensitive, even-handed portrayal of manager Stevie who, while forced by circumstances to fire Margie, is also highly sympathetic to her plight.
Prompted by her longtime friends Jean (Stephanie Sarkisian) and landlady Dottie (Susan Nest), Margie approaches her old high school boyfriend Mike (John Morello), who is now a doctor, for possible employment.
However, as the two former lovers reconnect at Mike’s fancy home in Chestnut Hill, it leads to an unexpected, awkward and emotionally volatile confrontation.
(Photo: Kate Moylan as “Margaret” stands listening to Stephanie Sarkisian as “Jean” (L) and Susan Nest (R) as “Dottie” in a scene from David Lindsay-Abaire's "GOOD PEOPLE" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through February 16, 2025. Photo Credit: Amy Mae Photography)
When first produced on Broadway, "GOOD PEOPLE" began previews in 2011.
The limited engagement ran for a total of 101 performances and 27 previews.
David Lindsay-Abaire’s absorbing two-act play "GOOD PEOPLE" is a fascinating look into the human condition which, when it debuted, would go on to become nominated for the Tony Award and won for Best Play by the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award.
The original Broadway cast featured Frances McDormand as "Margie," for which the actress was awarded both the Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle Award.
Now, in the dramatic WCLOC staging by director Dawn Davis, Moylan is gripping as the assertive and occasionally combative Margie, on stage throughout most of the two plus hour show.
Margie initially doesn’t seek out an adversarial reunion with Mike as she is desperately seeking his help in getting a job.
However, when Margie actually reunites with Mike (in a measured performance by Morello), she also gets to learn more about his life, which see sees as a huge departure from his “more humble” beginnings as a neighborhood kid from Southie.
(Photo: Kaven Matyczynski as “Stevie” speaks to Kate Moylan as “Margaret” in a pivotal moment from David Lindsay-Abaire's "GOOD PEOPLE" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through February 16, 2025. Photo Credit: Amy Mae Photography)
Margie arrives at Mike's elegant Chestnut Hill home and meets Mike's beautiful young African-American wife Kate (Elizabeth Anne Hylton) and mother to their 6-year-old daughter.
Hylton gives an animated performance as Kate, who nudges Margie into regaling her with stories about Mike's past, as Mike never talks about his “good old days” as a Southie kid.
However, that is exactly where much of the descent begins into multiple awkward moments filled with animosity as Margie opens some old wounds and Kate begins to learn things about Mike she had not expected.
Margie accuses Mike of becoming a "lace curtain" (Irish slang disparaging those who have never experienced economical struggles) making it out of Southie only because he had the “lucky breaks” inaccessible to most of their other companions from Southie.
As the story continues to unfold, more uncomfortable revelations occur along with highly adversarial and antagonistic moments.
Yet, thanks to the evenly balanced performances by the cast under the perceptive direction of Davis, at no time is anyone presented as a villain.
Even as multiple racist comments are uttered by some characters, it is done with a refreshing sense of abandon, flowing naturally (if somewhat uncomfortable at times for US to hear).
For the environment in which these characters exist, the occasionally racist-tinged colloquialisms in their everyday conversations are quite normal to them.
(Photo: Elizabeth Anne Hylton as “Kate” meets Kate Moylan as “Margaret” in a scene from David Lindsay-Abaire's "GOOD PEOPLE" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through February 16, 2025. Photo Credit: Amy Mae Photography)
The set for "GOOD PEOPLE" is a complex view of economic disparity from the first act to the second.
Presenting first the multiple downtrodden locations within a blue-collar Southie neighborhood, the second act contrasted starkly with the immaculate interior of a wealthy Chestnut Hill home.
The native Boston accents used in "GOOD PEOPLE" are thankfully kept underplayed and not performed as one might normally expect to hear with accents both overbearing and unnecessarily "cahtoonish."
Slightly hampering the WCLOC February 7th performance were several exchanges between multiple characters which included the intentional overlapping of lines - and yet, some of these exchanges came across as the actors being a little unsure on some of those lines.
Scene changes during the same performance were a little clunky at times, but any downtime was kept minimal.
(Photo: Elizabeth Anne Hylton as “Kate” seated with John Morello as “Mike” in a scene from David Lindsay-Abaire's "GOOD PEOPLE" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through February 16, 2025. Photo Credit: Amy Mae Photography)
In addition to the previously mentioned praiseworthy performances are the ones given by both Nest and Sarkisian, respectively as the whimsical Dottie and the acerbic, earthy Jean, as Margie’s emotional support.
In the end, it is Moylan who commands the WCLOC stage from the outset of the show, giving an exceptional, intuitive and occasionally heartbreaking performance as Margie.
All the characters presented in "GOOD PEOPLE" are just that – good people who are simply trying to live their lives as best as they can.
"GOOD PEOPLE" continues in Worcester at WCLOC until February 16th and, in short, is simply a "wicked awesome" time.
Coming up next at WCLOC will be the musical “SPRING AWAKENING” beginning April 25th, 2025.
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Approximately two hours, 20 minutes with one intermission.
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE SHOW
Life in Boston’s Southie neighborhood is no joke for single mother Margaret Walsh.
Fired from her job, facing eviction, she doesn’t know whether to risk it all on a game of bingo, or join a drunken old classmate on a warm bit of sidewalk.
Will she catch a break from the cranky young manager at the Dollar Store or the landlady with a craft business selling googly-eyed rabbits?
Or the man from her past, now a successful doctor, who left town at a crucial moment long ago?
With wry humor and astonishing realism, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire creates both a loving portrait of his hometown and a widely relatable tale of socio-economic struggle.
In the world of "GOOD PEOPLE" we see that very few can afford to be as good as they think they are, but acts of sacrifice and gestures of kindness come at the most surprising moments and from the most unexpected of sources. (STAGEAGENT)
ABOUT WORCESTER COUNTY LIGHT OPERA COMPANY (WCLOC)
Founded in 1937, WCLOC is Worcester’s oldest active theater company. As a local, non-profit community theater, we depend on the generosity of our members, patrons, subscribers, and donors to help forward the mission of our organization to entertain, inform, and nurture local artists and audiences through the production of high quality, affordable musicals, plays, and children’s educational workshops. A donation to WCLOC allows us to continue to keep tickets affordable for local audiences, helps us maintain and make necessary improvements to our Clubhouse, and supports a full season of memorable theater and educational opportunities.
WORCESTER COUNTY LIGHT OPERA COMPANY
P.O. Box # 51
Worcester, MA. 01613
# 508-753-4383
