The Texas Bear Round-up was held last weekend, but folks can still find bears onstage in Allen. Escanaba in da Moonlight is a Midwestern cosmic comedy centering on a father Albert Soady and his adult sons Reuben and Remnar in a hunting cabin. Written by Jeff Daniels (yes, the Dumb and Dumber/The Newsroom actor) director Beau Dameron and his cast worked hard and sweaty to bring the zany Yooper play to life at Allen Contemporary Theatre.
The burly leading men in the story were Jeff York as the gruff patriarch, Tyler Baker as eldest son Reuben who has yet to bag a deer…ever, and Blake Rice as the unrefined younger brother who has surpassed his elder with an impressive kill.
The deer cabin set in Michigan’s upper peninsula is the center for the Soady family to embark on their hunt. The stakes are high for Reuben who could go down as the oldest Soady to never have shot a buck. He’s already haunted by the notion that he’s cursed.
York set the tone of the show with a fourth-wall breaking address but seamlessly moved into the narrative as the Soady sons enter. The dynamic and chemistry by the trio felt locked in and effortless with all three fully invested in their characters’ nuances and dialects. They volleyed dialogue off each other with a natural comfort.
The story doesn’t stop at the trio.
Daniel Rice was explosive as the alien-abducted Jimmer Negamanee. Something is definitely not right about Jimmer and his affected speech. Rice crafted and controlled a rampant, unhinged performance. He managed Jimmer’s mumbled speech with a hyper delivery and yet, he still conveyed a clear picture through the mishmash of words coming out of Jimmer’s mouth.
Jimmer injected a whole other level of animation to the show. Finally, Tim Demsky entered as Ranger Tom Treado. Demsky unraveled his poised officer hastily into a believer convinced he saw the light of God on the ridge. Demsky’s erratic performance was delivered with a machine-gun audacity keeping the story dialed in at a 10.
York’s performance as Daddy Soady was stoic with a slight fatherly arrogance but tinted with a sense of humor. His portrayal centered the show and the other characters who all orbit Albert with crazed agility. Baker had the luxury of being the most grounded of the brothers but Baker’s unpacking of Reuben’s pressure-cooked frustration was a thrill to watch. A staple on the ACT stage, Rice delivered a confident turn as Remnar. The character may not be the brightest bulb, but Rice never dumbed him down into a caricature – although, for this play, caricatures are probably allowed. Rice’s performance was a comic stampede of wacked-out intensity.
Beyond each actor’s performances, the play quite literally got messy. Flying liquids, sweaty undergarments and relentless gas-passing were crucial to the play. The slapstick was a rollercoaster which flowed well in the first act, but chaotic in the second. While necessary, the unbridled physical comedy and shouting often eclipsed the humor. A minor blemish as the show eventually leveled out into its mystical finale.
Dameron deftly managed the mayhem of Escanaba in da Moonlight. His touch felt elastic as the production stretched in multiple directions. He led the storyline with subtle, forward shifts that the ensemble maintained with ideal pacing. I’m unsure if Jeff Daniels intended any poignant messages about family and masculinity, but the production wisely focused on the humor and silliness, which the cast delivered with reckless enthusiasm.
The show runs through March 29.
–Rich Lopez
Just FYI – the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is not the Midwest. And you sadly left out the only female in the cast, Lidia Leon, whose brief but pivotal role as Wolf Moon Dance Soady was excellently portrayed.