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Friday, June 1, 2007
Weekend pick: ‘Charm School’ @ Horizon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW. Grade: B
We could all use a visit to “Charm School,” the diversity training seminar where the characters in Larry Larson and Eddie Levi Lee’s new comedy are banished to learn the etiquette of the politically correct.
In the case of Raymond Saunders, a beer-swigging, joke-loving redneck from Macon, the visit to Diversity Training International in Seattle is tantamount to a weeklong stay in Purgatory. Though Ray claims his heart is pure, and we are prone to believe him, he’s in hot water for telling a racially offensive joke at the bakery-supply company where he works. Rather than fire this likable guy on the verge of retirement, his boss, Joe, decides to join him at the retreat.
Now running at Horizon Theatre and starring the legendary writing team of Lee and Larson as Ray and Joe, respectively, “Charm School” is a delicately nuanced investigation into the human side of a hotly debated, politically charged topic. Larson and Lee wisely refrain from judging their characters — opting instead to capture their comic vulnerability and queasy, soul-searching ambivalence.
The point of this funny, provocative play is that language once deemed harmless can now be considered tasteless, inappropriate and offensive in the court of public opinion. As the play points out again and again, one man’s bonhomie is another’s call to arms.
Anyone who’s ever sat through a diversity session will recognize the fictional DTI, with its break-off encounters, role-playing and cocktail hour. And then there’s facilitator Carol (magnificently played by Yvonne Singh), who must alternately play the part of referee, camp counselor and PC spokesmodel. Though Carol’s goal seems to be to remain in control at all times, her subtle-to-a-fault body language gives her away every time. “We’re getting to it, people!” Carol enthuses after one particularly intense moment. “We are getting to the heart of it!” Her self-congratulatory air is spot-on.
In a series of miniature vaudevilles that break up the narrative, Neal Hazard and Megan Hayes perform skits that at first appear to be a part of the training but eventually morph into their own theatrical world. To the audience, the vignettes progress from the raucously funny to the awkward and unforgivable. And to Ray, there’s an additional level of discomfort when seminar employees Rob (Hazard) and Donna (Hayes) reveal that they are married in real life. Rob, you see, is black and Donna is white.
As the tension builds, Ray won’t apologize for his unfortunate comments because he doesn’t think he did anything wrong. Joe doesn’t want to can Ray because he’s like a surrogate father. Yet he has a responsibility to protect his other employees and his company’s integrity. Larson and Lee, to their credit, don’t let us off easily. Each man remains true to his motives, and there is no unequivocal answer to their dilemma.
Imperfect as the argument it presents, “Charm School” runs about 20 minutes longer than it should. And some of the offstage family business involving Ray’s wife, Joe’s father and conference attendee Sheila’s (Ann Wilson) personal struggles make it feel a little more cluttered than necessary. But it is a smartly conceived piece of writing, uniformly well acted and directed by Jeff and Lisa Adler.
And it’s a welcome addition to an important national debate — the same one that’s cropped up in the Don Imus controversy and has been bandied about in such recent plays as August Wilson’s “Radio Golf” on Broadway and Lydia R. Diamond’s “Stick Fly” at True Colors Theatre. As Ray says, “How can you talk about the word without saying the word?”
Ray argues that in our quest for sensitivity and fear of confrontation, we sanitize our conversation of all playfulness, spontaneity and truth. Carol thinks that tiny transgressions can lead to more monstrous ones. That both characters are right is a tribute to this marvelous little play’s spirit of generosity and forgiveness.
THE 411: 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays; 8:30 p.m. Saturdays; 5 p.m. Sundays. Through June 24. $20-$25. Horizon Theatre, 1083 Austin Ave., Little Five Points. 404-584-7450, horizontheatre.com.
THE VERDICT: An important play about the PC debate. It charms and alarms.
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