Superb Cast Buoys Middletown

If the smash 1990s sitcom “Seinfeld” can be considered a show about nothing, then Middletown, by playwright Will Eno, is a show about everything.

Life, death, relationships, miracles, history, medicine, communication, pregnancy, books and a whole batch of subjects are pontificated upon by a group of quirky oddballs in Trinity Repertory Company’s production, which opened last week.

There is no conventional narrative, rather, a series of vignettes featuring a philosophical police officer (Joe Wilson, Jr.), an eccentric librarian (Janice Duclos), a neurotic plumber named John (Mauro Hantman), and the town’s newest resident, a sweet woman named Mary (Angela Brazil), whose husband is never around.

Fred Sullivan, Jr. plays multiple roles, including a tourist who is not overly impressed with Middletown, and in one clever bit, an audience member who comments on what has transpired during the first act. He also kicks off the play as the Public Speaker, who sets the stage for what’s to come.

John and Mary form a bond when he unclogs her kitchen sink. These two desperately lonely people express their fears and insecurities. “We all have our dark nights,” Mary explains.

Eno creates a colorful group of personalities who obsess over the mundane details of life as well as the scientific and metaphysical. Their dialogue is sometimes witty, sometimes poignant. For example, Mary has a conversation with a doctor (Sullivan) about the experience of being born. She is worried about what her newborn child will feel as he enters the world. The doctor reassures her that everything will be okay, yet Mary still has her doubts.

The second act of the play leads one character to death and another to a new phase in their life as they lay in adjoining hospital beds.

Director Curt Columbus draws stellar performances from his lead actors, as well as the ones in smaller roles; Trinity Rep has one of the strongest acting companies in the region. Sullivan, Wilson, Hantman, Brazil, and Duclos are able to create fully realized characters. Rebecca Gibel is charming as a perky tour guide. Rachael Warren is effective as the doctor who treats John.

“Life can be tough,” the police officer says. Indeed, it can. But it can also be filled with hope, with wonder, with love, and with friends and neighbors coming together to share joy. If you’re in the mood for some interesting theater, Middletown is worth a visit.

Middletown runs Jan 22 through Feb 22 in Trinity Rep’s Dowling Theater. Tickets and subscriptions are on sale now at trinityrep.com, by calling 401.351.4242 or at the theater’s box office at 201 Washington St., Providence.