Erika Rolfsrud

Margaret (given a sizzling performance by Erika Rolfsrud) is down. The play begins as she is fired from the dollar store cashier position she has held. Stevie (Buddy Haardt), bringing the bad news, feels terrible about it. Since Margaret has so often been late to the job, the district manager ordered her dismissal and Stevie, the store manager, is the messenger. Margaret has, at home, a mentally disabled daughter named Joyce. Margie (as she is often known) gets together with her friends who try advising her. Jean (Megan Byrne), who, as do all of these women, uses language which is not all that delicate, and landlady Dottie (Audrie Neenan) play bingo together. The "girls" urge Margie to seek out former boyfriend and now wealthy physician Mike (R. Ward Duffy), who lives in fashionable Chestnut Hill. If she tells him that her daughter Joyce was not really born prematurely but is Mike's child, maybe he will come across with some cash support. Margaret does remember him as "good people" so she shows up at his office—and he is not particularly thrilled to see her. She manages to get an invitation to an imminent party at Mike's home.

The second act opens as Mike and his much younger wife Kate (Chandra Thomas), who happens to be African-American, sit in their living room. Since their child became ill, the gathering has been canceled. The doorbell rings and Margaret (now wearing a dress which is in contrast to her early attire—shabby jeans and shirt) enters. She feigns no knowledge of the situation. Kate assumes Margaret is a member of the catering crew and has arrived to take away party supplies and such. Kate, growing aware of the confusion, insists that Margaret stay for a glass of wine. Besides, Kate wants to hear of Mike's past. Margie flashes back to a moment decades ago where she and Mike disagreed about a violent scene and his role. She has called Mike "lace curtain Irish" and he does not respond well to the phrase. He and Margaret carry the same accent from the old South Boston district. The articulate Kate, however, was and is a person of privilege who now teaches college-level literature. Margie's formal education concluded with high school but the two women forge a surprising alliance.

It would not be fair to reveal anything further in terms of plot points. Lindsay-Abaire, a group of actors whose timing is precise and intuitive, and director Rob Ruggiero are all formidable. Margie, given her dire circumstances, minces not one word. She is personal, as this play makes potent and essential social and cultural statements. The final scene returns to the land of bingo.

Rolfsrud's aggressive Margaret is, from the instant the production begins, an arresting mixture of agitation yet authenticity of heart. Rough, foul-mouthed, and sometimes inappropriate, she is, beneath the surface, filled with soul. She will struggle to save her daughter and risk her own emotional health if that is what is required. The actress seemed stunned, at opening night final curtain, when she received spectacular and well-deserved applause. Neenan's Dottie is, at times, hilariously caustic. Byrne, as spitfire Jean, is audaciously expressive. R. Ward Duffy, in non-sympathetic mode as Mike the successful doctor, is juggling difficult memories with his current good fortune and prosperity. Thomas is articulate and smart as Kate, who is also more complex than it appears. Haardt's role as Stevie seems to be one dimensional.

Luke Hegel-Cantarella, designing the stage, transforms it, during multi-dimensional interludes, from the rear of the dollar store to bingo, then to Mike's office. After the break, we visit the Chestnut Hill plush interior, and finally back to bingo. Harry Nadal's outfits are quite suitable for each of the characters. Ruggiero, Producing Artistic Director at TheaterWorks, has explained that he has wished to present this piece for a while (it premiered in New York four years ago). His deft direction allows theatergoers to experience the Southie Lindsay-Abaire knew, and the actors bring it to vivacious life. The gifted playwright provides hard edge and compassion, too. The director gives these actors the room to physically inhabit these individuals. It is as if they've all been performing together for ages—for longer than a few weeks of rehearsal and the first 10 days or so of a given run.

Good People continues at TheaterWorks in Hartford through June 28th, 2015. For tickets, call (860) 527-7838 or visit www.theaterworkshartford.org.

Photo: Lanny Nagler

- Fred Sokol