Hames,
Pleuss and Winsome narrate much of the story out of character with the kind of
energy that speaks to a great enthusiasm for the story they’re telling. There’s
a pleasantly whimsical sense of fun about the way they deliver the story, which
goes a long way toward making the heavier dramatic elements of revolution feel
less overwhelming.
As
a playwright, Winsome has veered far enough away from the intellectual theory
of social revolution to keep the story comfortably character-driven. As an
actor he does a pretty good job of delivering the casual social elements of his
own script. The early parts of the story come across as an enjoyably bizarre
twist on the traditional domestic sitcom. Red sits there at his desk working on
a bomb or some such and there’s Nadia coming through the door with a bag full
of groceries she’s lifted off some stranger.
The
dialogue between Red and Nadia is written accessibly enough to sound as though
it wouldn’t be entirely out of place accompanied by a laugh track, but lofty
enough to be casually engaging to anyone familiar with abstract philosophy.
Theirintellectual intimacy is cleverly
represented in debates that quickly evolve into verbal chess matches, only audible
in the form of a series of philosophers’ names. Portraying that kind of
intimacy onstage could be disastrously challenging, but Winsome and Pleuss have
more than enough of a rapport to make it work. In the role of Nadia’s half
brother, Hames adds just enough drama to create the perfect kind of outside
friction necessary to drive the plot.
Paint the Town runs through July 27
at the Alchemist Theatre.
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