When its full title can’t even be printed in a daily newspaper, you can imagine how blistering and profane the play, henceforth known as Stephen Adly Guirgis’ seriocomic “The [Expletive] with the Hat.” Were you to likewise delete all of the R-rated language from the script (not to mention its pervasive drug use and a needless display of male nudity in one scene), the show would last a mere fraction of its 90-odd minutes.
In his sharpshooting Actor’s Express production, artistic director Freddie Ashley casts Randy Cohlmia as Jackie, a recently paroled convict and allegedly recovering substance abuser. Living in a ghetto tenement with his coke-sniffing girlfriend, Veronica (Denise Arribas), Jackie talks a good game to her about making “grown-up, you-and-me, next-step plans,” until his pipe dreams are shattered by a smoking gun of sorts, a man’s hat conspicuously deserted on the bedroom table.
Neal A. Ghant plays Ralph, who goes above and beyond his call of duty as Jackie’s Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor. He talks a good game, too, frequently taking the moral high ground or quoting straight from the AA handbook. But Ralph isn’t quite as clean as he is sober. Although he may have Jackie snowed, Ralph’s own wife, Victoria (Stacy Melich in familiar neurotic mode), doesn’t buy it.
Cohlmia, so fine in Georgia Ensemble’s “Becky’s New Car” earlier this year, seems a bit off the mark here. He’s more persuasive portraying Jackie, the outwardly tough-talking hothead, than he is revealing the sensitive soul within. A pivotal scene fraught with tearful emotion rings hollow and he’s not an especially convincing drunk, either.
Projecting easy-going naturalism has never been a strong suit for Ghant, who is most widely regarded for his classical roles at Georgia Shakespeare. His Ralph might not top the actor’s celebrated turn as a similarly cunning character in the Alliance’s “Glengarry Glen Ross” a few seasons ago, but it’s a refreshing throwback that comes pretty close.
The biggest revelations in the ensemble are two performers normally found in lighter musicals and comedies. Arribas (Stage Door’s “Bye Bye Birdie”) nails the volatile Veronica with remarkable conviction and skill, molding a real person out of a potential stereotype. And Luis Hernandez (Georgia Ensemble’s “The Boys Next Door”) shines as Jackie’s plainspoken cousin. His heartfelt recollection of a childhood memory -- “It was a long time ago and it was yesterday” -- is genuinely affecting.
The play could possibly use more moments of such calm insight to contrast with its excessive grittiness and questionable characters. For the most part, though, Ashley infuses the show with an undeniable sense of urgency that makes it hard to look away, even when we ought to.
Theater review
“The [Expletive] with the Hat”
Grade: B
Through April 14. 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. $25-$32. Actor’s Express, King Plow Arts Center, 887 W. Marietta St., Atlanta. 404-607-7469. actors-express.com.
Bottom line: Unsavory but compelling.
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