Evelyn Chew plays biker chick to Carl Kennedy’s gang guy in “A Good Way Out”
Emerging playwright Cara Norrish has done a find job of crafting some of the basics in A Good Way Out, but there’s not enough there yet. It’s like she’s got the frame up, but there’s no cladding.
In A Good Way Out, Joey is ensnared in gang life. Although kingpin Larry talks a good line about the gang “family”, he exploits Joey, who works as a motorcycle mechanic in a gang-controlled shop: Larry refuses to pay Joey for work done, then threatens to evict him for not coming up with the rent.
Norrish establishes some potentially interesting relationships. Joey’s girlfriend Carla, a stripper turned healthcare worker, challenges Larry, for instance, even though she’s half his size in this production. And Joey butts heads with his sister Lynette after she honestly answers questions about his kids, questions posed by the folks from Child Protection Services.
But the play’s trajectory is entirely predictable and the characters have little depth; everything they say is on the nose. When Carla challenges Larry, for example, he spits out a tidy speech about the terrors he suffered as a child. Apparently aware of how obvious this is, the playwright has Carla joke about being Larry’s psychiatrist.
Still, there are a couple of darkly funny exchanges. When Joey challenges Sean for visiting Lynette, he says, “Are you trying to get my kids taken away?” Sean replies, “She’s got a hot tub.”
And, under Anthony F. Ingram’s direction, the performances in this production are strong. It’s a particular pleasure to watch Carl Kennedy (Joey) playing scenes with Corina Akeson (Lynette); both are such honest, responsive actors. And, in his scenes with Carla (the very able Evelyn Chew), Kennedy turns on the sexy like he’s turning on a tap. One oddity: although Joey and Lynette are brother and sister, Joey speaks with an American accent while Lynette’s speech is standard-issue Canadian.
A consummate pro, Andrew Wheeler wrings every drop of potential menace out of Larry.
Pacific Theatre, which is producing A Good Way Out, is a Christian company, so presenting this script, which includes a fair bit of profane language as well as overt—sometimes degrading—sexuality is a bold move. And good for PT for developing new plays.
I also applaud the compassion that’s at the base of this project. In its present form, the play is so direct that it looks naïve; real life is less predictable, and real people more complicated. As Norrish grows as a playwright, it might be important for her to loosen her control and to allow her characters and situations to lead her into a more complicated story and more surprising revelations.
A GOOD WAY OUT By Cara Norrish. Directed by Anthony F. Ingram. A Pacific Theatre production at Pacific Theatre on Friday, September 23. Continues until October 15.
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