"The
Outsider" at the Paper Mill Playhouse
"The Outsider" at the
Paper Mill Playhouse
22 Brookside Dr., Millburn, NJ 07041
Now through February 18, 2018
Wednesdays at 7:30 pm, Thursdays at 1:30 and 7:30 pm, Fridays at 8pm,
Saturdays at 1:30 and 8pm, Sundays at 1:30 and 7pm
Tickets ($34) at (973) 376-4343 or www.papermill.org.
As if we needed a reminder about the difference between
governaning and politicking, along comes "The Outsider,"
running through February 18 at Paper Mill Playhouse. The chasm that
exists between those two concepts is old news (and hardly fake), but
Paul Slade Smith's farcical romp puts a quirky spin on it.
 |
| "The
Outsider" at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Photo courtesy of
the Paper Mill Playhouse. |
When the governor of an un-named state is forced to
retire (the usual reason), his Lieutenant Governor is revealed as
a mumbling fumbler. Ned Newley (Lenny Wolpe) appears not only to be
incompetent, but also incapable of coherent communication in a public
forum, but he is actually a policy wonk with a firm grasp on budgets,
infra-structure and other facets of statewide government. The bumbler-cum
fiscal whiz is acted to a tee by Wolpe, whose familiar visage has
never been more pliable, and it is no surprise that Governor Newley's
brand of governmental accountability eventually triumphs.
What makes the civics lesson palatable is how deftly written, acted
and directed (by David Esbjornson) it is. The climactic mini-lecture
is drawn out of Newley in a believable way. What makes the play about
more than just that lesson are the characters that surround Newley,
especially Louise "LuLu" Peakes, a totally inept office
temp, played to a ripe comic turn by Erin Noel Grennan.
The ditsy LuLu becomes a central political figure in spite of herself.
She dwells in non-sequitur land, where her out-of-left-field responses
place her squarely in the sights of political image-master Arthur
Vance (Burke Moses), who grooms her for greater things. LuLu actually
conning the electorate might have been a ludicrous over-reach a year
or so ago, but today? Not so much. Someone says of LuLu, "She's
got great energy," which applies twice over to the fiery red-headed
Ms. Grennan.
In other roles, Julia Duffy is an efficient pollster, and Manoel Felciano
and Kelly Curran play the Governor's chief of staff and a TV newswoman,
between whom a bland budding romance is chemistry-deprived. Mike Houston
stands out as a gruff TV cameraman who becomes the unlikely catalyst
for Ned Newley's emergence from the political-puppet closet.
Mr. Smith's play is really a live-action sitcom, but buoyed by Mr.
Wolpe's skillful take on the Governor's dual personas and Ms. Grennan's
scene-stealing (hell, play-stealing) LuLu, "The Outsider"
is worth stashing the remote and getting yourself to Paper Mill.
|
