This story was originally published by ArtsATL.
Playwright Bill Balzer’s play “Two Drink Minimum” — an autobiographical story about his complicated relationship with his mother — runs at Hapeville’s Academy Theatre until Sept. 22. It’s a well-acted work that likely will cause audiences to reminisce about their own family struggles.
Directed by Lynna Schmidt, the play is ultimately about how a son deals with his mother’s mental decline. It’s well-intentioned and its heart is in the right place, but the script, even as performed by four of Atlanta’s best actors, is deeply flawed. The writer included mundane details from real life to preserve accuracy over a satisfying story arc.
Much of the exposition — delivered by a narrator played by Matthew Myers or by the character played by Bill Murphey in performances that intentionally mirror — comes across as overly muddy prose, often hyper specific and beside the point in its details.
For instance, most of the audience isn’t going to care what the name of your mom’s traveling companions to Branson or the Tetons were; there’s no need to name-check those not appearing onstage. The audience also doesn’t need a strict timeline of the writer’s career with UPS in a play that is emotionally focused on Balzer and his difficult mother, Mary B, played with great energy and spirit by Susan Shalhoub Larkin.
The title of the work comes from a joke that he couldn’t engage with her without drinking — though it isn’t a play about alcoholism.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Academy Theatre
Credit: Photo courtesy of Academy Theatre
Eventually, Balzer’s wife, Peg (Wendy Melkonian) joins the story, her own fraught relationship to Mary providing some levity.
This should’ve been a show with more focus on the relationships and less slavish devotion to historical accuracy. Because of how it’s written, we witness the actors occasionally tripping over lines while trying to be word-perfect in moments that are more about name-dropping than character motivation.
Among the strangest storytelling devices and bits of stagecraft used in “Two Drink Minimum” is that the narrator wanders a furnished upstage set and uses slides — while telling the story of scenes that occur on another furnished downstage set with three other performers. Surely there was a more efficient way Balzer could’ve written and accomplished this. Why are two performers onstage playing the writer at different points in life simultaneously? This choice frequently distracts the audience from the story.
Balzer has done a lot as a philanthropist and volunteer for Atlanta theaters. The play was previously staged at Theatrical Outfit in 2012, where he was a longtime board member and is the namesake of its Balzer Theater.
While his script could be leaner, there is a lot of heart behind this work. The writer clearly loves his mother and seeks to understand her difficulties. This play, as it stands, encourages viewers to consider and appreciate their own families, particularly as they age or face illness.
THEATER REVIEW
“Two Drink Minimum”
Through Sept. 22 at Academy Theatre. 8 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, $30; $25 student, senior and military. 599 N Central Ave,, Hapeville. 404-474-8332, academytheatre.org
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Benjamin Carr is an ArtsATL editor-at-large who has contributed to the publication since 2019 and is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, the Dramatists Guild, the Atlanta Press Club and the Horror Writers Association. His writing has been featured in podcasts for iHeartMedia, onstage as part of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival and online in The Guardian. His debut novel, “Impacted,” was published by The Story Plant.
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
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