Review: Ordinary People very well done

By DAVE MOSIER

Van Wert Civic Theatre has chosen an intense family drama for its latest production. Ordinary People ran this past weekend and will run again February 14-16, and those involved have done a masterful job bringing the conflicts and emotional nuances of the play to the VWCT stage.

The play is derived from the 1976 book by Judith Guest and 1980 Best Picture Oscar-winning movie directed by Robert Redford. Ordinary People is about an upper-middle-class family that has been rocked by a double tragedy: the death of one son, Buck, in a boating accident on Lake Michigan and the attempted suicide of the other son, Conrad, in part due to his inability to deal with his brother’s death and the guilt he carries because he couldn’t save him. The boys’ parents, tax attorney Calvin Jarrett and his wife, Beth, are struggling to deal with both tragedies, while also keeping them from tearing their marriage apart.

Director Sarah Glover and Assistant Director Paul Briggs and the cast of nine actors provide an intimate look into the lives of the Jarretts, a suburban Chicago family that is dealing with both the aftermath of a son’s death and the fragile mental health of his surviving brother.

Leading the production is VWCT newcoming Karter Hoffman, who does an incredible job as surviving son Conrad, a role that won Timothy Hutton an Oscar in the movie production. Conrad Jarrett has just returned home from a four-month stay in a mental institution after a suicide attempt related to the death of his brother.

Conrad is struggling to find some kind of emotional normality at home and in school but finds it hard to understand his perfectionist mother Beth’s emotional coldness towards him following the death of his brother. He’s also trying to cope with the intense emotional feelings he still has about the tragedy but keeps pushing away the friends he shared with his brother because they remind him of the pain of Buck’s death.

Hoffman makes Conrad’s mental struggles real and handles the often-intense scenes with his parents and psychiatrist Dr. Tyrone Berger with a skill not often seen in young amateur actors.

Nicolle Merkel also gives a nuanced portrait of Beth Jarrett, who denies her favorite son’s loss while suppressing her own grief in an attempt to maintain the illusion that her life is the same as it was before the tragedies.

Trip Elliott is Calvin Jarrett, whose life as a tax attorney has been shattered by the death of one son and the attempted suicide of the other. The underpinnings of his life have been destroyed by the tragedies, and he is also trying to find a way to come to terms with these new feelings. Elliott is also adept at showing how torn Calvin is trying to deal with the rift between Beth and Conrad, while also showing concern for his son’s emotional issues.

Steven Faul is Dr. Tyrone Berger, the psychiatrist Conrad (and later Calvin) sees to help him deal with his emotions, rather than try to control them. Faul’s role is crucial to the play because Dr. Berger is the lynchpin to Conrad’s finally becoming emotionally whole again, following an emotional crisis brought by another tragedy.

Supporting cast members also do a wonderful job of adding to the play’s richness and emotional intensity.

Josie Ricker plays Jeannine, a student Conrad begins dating who helps him look at things more positively, while Carrie Briggs is Karen, a girl Conrad met in the mental hospital whose later suicide is the tragedy that leads to an emotional crisis for Conrad that leads and an important breakthrough for him as well.

Evan Joseph and Jesse Donathan play, respectively, Lazenby and Stillman, friends and swimming teammates of Conrad’s. They both do a nice job of providing additional emotional layers to the drama, as well as providing important dramatic conflicts in the story.

Todd Abels also provides a noteworthy performance as Conrad’s swimming coach, whose lack of understanding for what Conrad is going through ultimately leads to Conrad quitting the team — an action that later leads to an intense scene between Conrad and Beth.

The VWCT production of Ordinary People is an intensely satisfying emotional drama, with a talented cast that provides a number of excellent performances. The play continues this Friday through Sunday. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m., while the Sunday matinee will begin at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at https://vwct.org.