Trinity’s ‘Middletown’ profoundly simple

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It is always encouraging to see the works of contemporary playwrights, especially those who explore the human spirit with colorful, descriptive language without having to resort to off-color adjectives.

Will Eno is that kind of playwright, filled with ideas and insights into human nature, showing the joys, challenges, and high and low moments of his simple-on-the-surface, but quite complicated characters.

Enos presents a plethora of characters in “Middletown,” the seemingly dull town where the biggest tourist attraction is a rock with a plaque on it.

The people in Middletown have trouble connecting with their own thoughts and dreams, let alone the people around them. There is loneliness, despair, self-doubt and that lack of connection.

Two characters who do connect are John (Mauro Hantman), a lonely handyman who can’t seem to find his center, and Mrs. Swanson (Angela Brazil), a newcomer in town who waits impatiently for her husband to arrive. Will he ever come? Does he even exist?

We meet the local librarian (Janice Duclos) who serves as the caring connection to most of the townspeople, the mean spirited cop (Joe Wilson Jr.), the young, confused, out-of-control alcoholic listed in the program as the mechanic (Lee Osorio), plus a handful of others. All seem to represent aspects of the small town. They occasionally share their innermost thoughts with the audience.

The play is cleverly presented under the careful eye of director Curt Columbus, using a number of innovative moments to entertain the audience.

We enter the theatre, seeing only a park bench before a huge curtain. Fred Sullivan Jr., who plays more than one role, appears and we anticipate the usual “turn off your cell phones” but instead get a hilarious introductory soliloquy. When the curtain opens, we are awed with an overwhelming wall to ceiling diorama of cardboard houses.

The play has been compared to a modern day “Our Town,” but I found Enos to be coming from a very different place than Wilder.

The playwright often searches for the profound but follows it up with a glib, throwaway line. There are many laugh-out-loud moments that seem to break the spell. There are times when Enos is all over the place. The characters love to analyze themselves, but are so filled with self-doubts and loneliness that they seldom seem to succeed.

“I’m not crazy,” says the mechanic. “I’m just sad.”

If nothing else, “Middletown” offers a unique style and method of introducing universal questions.

Middletown” is at Trinity Rep’s Dowling (downstairs) theatre through February 22. For reservations call 351-4242.

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