Here is a fact of theatrical life:
If you want to make a mediocre play better, cast Lesley Abrams.
Abrams is in Live Theatre Workshop’s production of “Show People,” a comedy about — well, we’re not sure what it is about.
But we are sure of this: Abrams is a nuanced actor with pristine timing. She made the one-note play a hoot.
To be sure, she had help with the remaining cast: Taylor Rascher, Emily Gates and Steve McKee.
But watch Abrams listen to the others, sneak a drink, spit a drink out, react to a line, and you know they don’t get much better than her.
Now that play: It takes place in an upscale beach house (kudos to set designer Matthew C. Copley for transporting us to the ocean) seemingly owned by the highly-strung Tom (Rascher). He has hired Marnie (Abrams) and Jerry (McKee), a married couple and long-out-of-work actors, to pose as his parents. He wants to impress his girlfriend Natalie (Gates), the daughter of a diplomat and physicist and a classical violinist. Yes, it’s weird, we know; if his own parents aren’t up to snuff he can just pretend they aren’t around anymore. That’s weird, too, but maybe less weird.
In any case, the play isn’t really about meeting the parents; it’s about theater. The over-the-topness of it, the frustrations, the desperations and even the joy.
And it does that by throwing in more red herrings than should be legal.
This production, smoothly directed by Christopher Moseley, successfully milked every bit of humor out of it.
Rascher’s Tom seemed borderline psychotic at times, which was funny but also kind of scary. Gates gave a sweet anxiety to her Natalie, and McKee’s insecure actor rang true (hey, insecurity comes with the acting territory).
“Show People” is pencil-thin, but fun summer fare. And Abrams, especially, must be seen.
