The Pain and The Itch
By Bruce Norris
Directed by M. Bevin O'Gara; Set Designer, Cristina Todesco; Lighting Designer, James McNamara; Sound Designer/Composer, Aaron Mack; Properties Designer, Basia Goszczynska; Costume Designer, Angela Jajko; Video Designer, Jordan Harrison
CAST: Mr. Hadid, Cedric Lilly; Clay, Joe Lanza; Kelly, Aimee Doherty; Kayla (at this performance) Helen Steinman; Kalina, Philana Mia; Cash, Dennis Trainor, Jr.; Carol, Nancy E. Carroll; Kayla alternates, Rebecca Skye Hamberg, Abigail Steinman
Performances through April 4 at the Boston Center for the Arts/Plaza Theatre
Box Office 617-933-8600 or www.BostonTheatreScene.com
For show details and information on the season visit www.companyone.org
You are invited to share Thanksgiving dinner with the most dysfunctional family this side of the Westons of Osage County in Company One's production of Bruce Norris' The Pain and The Itch at the Boston Center for the Arts/Plaza Theatre. While dining with them is a surefire recipe for indigestion, watching them in action makes for a great evening of theatre and I challenge you to keep your jaw from dropping at their antics. They may start out looking like a typical, liberal privileged family, but throw in a sticky-fingered housekeeper, an avocado-munching rodent, and pornographic videos and wait for the chaos to begin.
The Pain and The Itch has a biting, satirical tone and a history of controversy due to its inclusion of a child actress and its mature subject matter. Premiered at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre in 2004, it seems fitting that the honors in Boston go to Company One which has made a name for itself by pushing the envelope and producing edgy, provocative works over its ten seasons on the local theatre scene. Norris takes on class, race, and family values and packages them in a searing, unsettling, but also very funny play.
Kelly and Clay are yuppie parents of a newborn son and a daughter Kayla (about 6 years old) who has a serious medical issue of unknown origin. The play opens with wife, a high-powered attorney, and husband, a sensitive new age Dad, in somber conversation with Mr. Hadid in their comfortable contemporary home, relating their story in flashbacks. The identity of the African American stranger is not immediately apparent, but he remains a presence in the background as other members of the family appear for the holiday gathering. Clay's clueless mother Carol, sarcastic brother Cash, and the latter's young Bosnian girlfriend Kalina bring their foibles and flaws to the table and the party is in full swing.
The primary concern of the parents is to keep their children safe from the evils of the world, as well as from whatever creature has invaded their home to gnaw on avocados. Their list of no-nos includes smoking in the house, makeup on their little girl, and playing shooting games, albeit without toy guns. They are the ultimate wet blankets, running to and fro to stomp out imaginary sparks, while the family dynamics constitute a fire-breathing dragon in their midst, threatening to consume one and all. Selfish whining, angry insults, and nasty accusations are volleyed back and forth in a vicious verbal tennis match. Think of it as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf-lite.
Clay (Joe Lanza) and Cash (Dennis Trainor, Jr.) share a volatility gene and both actors convincingly exhibit the sibling rivalry, lashing out at each other and anyone who gets in their way. Carol (Nancy E. Carroll) enables her boys to continue the competitive pattern that goes back to their youth with her attempts to placate everyone, often denying reality. Adding to the commotion, Kalina (Philana Mia) and Kayla (Helen Steinman) chase each other around the house, squealing with childish delight, while Kelly (Aimee Doherty) rolls her eyes and talks through clenched teeth and a tight, insincere smile. When the playwright tugs on the loose threads, Mr. Hadid (Cedric Lilly) quietly observes the fabric of the family unravel while the audience continues to wonder about his piece of this puzzle.
