Arctic’s Life in the Theater — it’s About Time

David Mamet used to be one of the most heavily produced playwrights in the country with smash hits such as Glengarry Glen Ross and Oleanna regularly appearing at any theater that wanted to be seen as “edgy.” Mamet had the golden ticket — his work was considered high art while also appealing to the masses. Nowadays, his brand of theatrical testosterone isn’t all that de rigueur, but even in his heyday, you’d be hard-pressed to find a production of A Life in the Theater, his two-hander tribute/love letter to the theater and the people who do it. The last high-profile production was a 2010 Broadway revival with Patrick Stewart and T.R. Knight that didn’t exactly set the Great White Way on fire.

Ironically, A Life in the Theater should probably be considered one of Mamet’s most approachable plays, if his least Mamet-y. It is tender, touching and eloquent, and filled with episodic qualities you wouldn’t necessarily ascribe to plays like The Cryptogram or Sexual Perversity in Chicago. And, because the Rhode Island theater community has recently transformed itself into a place where any project seems possible, you can now catch an energetic and efficient production of the play at the Arctic Playhouse in Warwick, directed by Tony Annicone.

Annicone certainly wasn’t given much help from Mamet with this one.  The play is episodic, yes, but the episodes travel from genre to genre, the only connection being the two actors who show us lives behind-the-scenes and onstage in plays that range from wartime sentimentality to highly stylized melodrama. Because the scenes come fast and furious, transitions and pacing are of the utmost importance, and Annicone makes sure his two actors land their laughs and convey their passion for the work while not bogging down the show with heavy pauses or overdone theatricality — impressive, since that would be the show’s biggest trap.

It’s easy to imagine two actors having fun embodying two, well, actors as they play everything from doctors to men stranded at sea. W. Richard Johnson is wonderful as the more experienced actor who tries to impart wisdom to his younger colleague even as his memory begins to fail him and his skills start to rust. In one of the scenes, Johnson asks if his fellow actor is going out after the show, and his desperation and depression are handled with care and compassion. Mamet obviously feels for the older actor, but he doesn’t want us to feel bad for him — just to see ourselves in a man who still has his passion, but is slowly losing everything else.

The younger actor is portrayed by Alvaro Beltran with skilled comic timing and smart characterizations. While Johnson has the bulk of the lines, Beltran’s reactions to his partner’s depreciation are often riotous while still being nuanced. In one scene, Beltran is trying to keep his composure while Johnson yells from offstage, and despite not being able to see one another, the connection between the two actors in that moment secured some of the biggest laughs of the evening.

One of the trickiest things about the play is how it requires the actors to create onstage mishaps and then react to them in the moment.  From a wig falling off a dummy that they’re operating on to contending with aggressive leaf-action from the devilish and delightful stage manager, Johnson and Beltran are clearly very comfortable with the play’s farcical elements, and Annicone knows exactly how to get the most out of those moments without settling for easy laughs.

Theater about theater is often mocked for being self-indulgent, but A Life in the Theater illustrates the cruelty and comedy of time in ways that could apply to any two people working in a field that seems to favor the young. At a brisk 90 minutes (with an intermission) it’s the perfect play for some of these colder February days when giving yourself over to an experienced director and two actors at the top of their game seems like the ideal reason to spend a life in the audience.

The Arctic Playhouse presents David Mamet’s A Life in the Theater through February 17. 117 Washington St, West Warwick. For tickets, call 401-573-3443 or visit thearcticplayhouse.com/shows-events