Theater review
“Beer for Breakfast”
Grade: C
Through May 5. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays; 10:30 a.m. Wednesday (May 1). $15-$25. ART Station, 5384 Manor Drive, Stone Mountain. 770-469-1105.
Bottom line: Flat and unappetizing
Except for a fleeting comment on the sorry state of the newspaper industry these days — one of the characters is a career staff writer who has been downsized into working on an iffy freelance basis — the rest of Sean Grennan’s “Beer for Breakfast” seems awfully stale and dated. When somebody in the play jokes about partying like it’s 1979, he doesn’t know the half of it.
It’s a supposedly contemporary comedy about a sort of battle of the sexes that feels at least as old as any number of Tracy-and-Hepburn movies. During a weekend retreat at a remote cabin in the woods, three Southern good ol’ boys trade wits, as it were, with an unexpected guest: the cultivated wife of a fourth friend.
Let the so-called “fun and games” begin, as the men and the woman pass the time by competing in a series of “mental and physical tests” to prove once and for all which gender is superior. You needn’t remember the outcome of that famous Billie Jean King/Bobby Riggs tennis match to keep several steps ahead of Grennan’s silly, creaky plot.
Artistic director David Thomas’ uneven ART Station production only compounds the play’s inherent lack of balance. Cast against type (which is to say miscast) as a swaggering macho man, Bryan Mercer overacts the role of the chauvinist ringleader, T.J., to such a degree that he becomes an obnoxious stereotype from the outset, with nowhere to go but down.
Were Jessie, the wife and adversary, painted with the same broad brush strokes, she’d be some kind of screaming banshee. Instead, despite being described as an “ice queen,” co-star Ellen McQueen portrays her with a warm sensibility that tips the scales and makes it too easy for the audience to take her side in their debate.
As things turn mushier and gushier in the second act, McQueen almost convinces us of her character’s unrequited yearnings for another man, while there’s precious little that Mercer can do to validate T.J. suddenly getting in touch with his own emotions.
Thomas’ experienced ensemble also includes Frank Roberts and Scott DePoy. Speaking out one side of his mouth, with a clinched fist fixed to his chest, Roberts plays Richard, who’s recovering from a recent stroke. DePoy is Mark, that veteran reporter-turned-glorified “Mr. Mom,” who mainly serves as an interpreter for the frequently unintelligible Richard.
Featuring an occasional four-letter word or gags about belching contests and such, “Beer for Breakfast” is somewhat racier than ART Station’s normal fare (e.g., Neil Simon’s “I Ought to be in Pictures,” most recently). But that doesn’t make the show any more funny, fresh or timely.
