SPEAK AMERICAN–HALF A GREAT PLAY

SPEAK AMERICAN…HALF A GREAT PLAY

F. J. Hartland 

           Living in beautiful and modern Pittsburgh, it is easy to forget that this once was a smoky city built on the labors of foreign immigrants who spoke no English and suffered 84-hour work weeks.  

          This is the basis for Speak American by Eric Simonson, the current offering at City Theatre. 

           Due to orders from Andrew Carnegie, lower management boss Tom O’Reilly (David Whalen) hires beautiful Rebecca Eastman (Daina Michelle Griffith) to teach English to a group of immigrant steel workers.  She is moved by the plight of the workers and plots to improve their labor conditions. 

           Act One is brilliant.  It establishes the setting, the characters, the conflicts and is engaging.  It leaves you anxiously awaiting the end of intermission to see what happens in Act Two.  Sadly, Act Two deteriorates into schmaltzy soap opera.  It is a true disappointment after that spectacular Act One. 

           David Whalen is nearly unrecognizable as O’Reilly.  Whalen does a marvelous job creating a small man who realizes he is nothing more than a pawn in the hands of the robbers barons like Schwab and Carnegie.  But why doesn’t the script tell us why O’Reilly suffers from horrific facial scars and walks with a pronounced limp?  Mill accident?  The Homestead Strike?  We never know.

            Daina Michelle Griffith is lovely, but comes across quite cold—and I’m not sure if that is to be blamed on her acting or the way the character is written.  And the audience never gets a satisfactory answer to the question that O’Reilly continually poses to her…”Why are you here?” 

           The real stars of Speak American are the actors who play the students.

            Christopher McLinden is nothing short of brilliant in the role of Yasen Dimitrov, the most outspoken of the students.  His performance is layered and complete—and very emotionally moving.  It is easily the best of the show.

           Chase Newell is a delight as Jakub Nicolella, who dreams of opening a butcher shop.  Also charming is Nicholas Ducassi, a Pole who is terrified of Indians and hopes to one day have a farm.  Both actors bring humor and sensitivity to their roles.  Together Newell and Ducassi share one of the most moving scenes of Speak American where the two men from different cultures share a beer and their hopes for the future.  

          Kudos to John Shepard for playing his role completely in Slovak but still able to make us understand the emotions.  Mark D. Staley does a fine job as Vlado, a student quick to anger. 

           Tony Ferrieri’s set beautifully captures the inside of a rusting steel mill.  Detailed pieces move on and off to transport us to various locations.  The set is complimented with artful lighting by Andrew David Ostrowski. 

           Speak American ends oddly.  The final moments belong to O’Reilly and make it his play.  I thought the play should’ve ended a scene earlier, making it Dimitrov’s play.—and ending it on a much more positive and poetic note.  Simonson also directs his play, and perhaps what was needed was a new perspective to make the script stronger. 

           City Theatre commissioned Speak American in honor of Pittsburgh’s 250th anniversary.  They got half of a great play about our city.  

          Speak American continues through May 31.

This entry was posted on 14. May 2009 at 18:25 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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