43
Cast of ‘Lobby Hero’ is strong but script turns out weak
Personal mood might play a part in the success or failure of this show.
YOUNGSTOWN — “Lobby Hero” explores issues of loyalty, duty, the importance of truth and, perhaps, the importance of lies.
The slow-building play, written by Kenneth Lonergan, opened Thursday at Youngstown State University Theater. It is entirely dialogue-driven and mildly thought-provoking. But it’s best if you’re in the mood for 150 minutes of exposition-laden scenes about dilemmas unfolding elsewhere.
The play is set in the lobby of a New York City apartment building, where easy-going security guard Jeff whiles away the night-shift hours in between visits from William, his disciplinarian supervisor. William tries to get Jeff to realize his potential — when he’s not threatening to fire him.
The jokester Jeff, meanwhile, is struggling to get on his feet financially, and needs his job, and the seat, desk and an elevator that keep him company.
The only other characters in the play are Bill and Dawn, two cops.
Director Dennis Henneman has double cast the roles of Jeff and William. On Thursday, the parts were played, respectively, by Jonathan Edward Yurco and Arcale Peace.
Joel Stigliano handles the role of Bill, while Nicole Dionisio is Dawn.
Bill’s on-duty visits to a female friend in the building are purely non-business related, if you get my drift. Dawn, his rookie partner, has a crush on Bill, but is soon crushed by his philandering, not to mention the experienced cop’s ruthless adherence to the “stick together or pay the price” credo.
Meanwhile, William gets entangled in a lie when he is forced to decide whether to falsely testify that he was with his brother on the night of a heinous crime in which his brother is accused.
Each member of the small cast is good, but Yurco is the most natural in his role. As Jeff, he tries to romantically ingratiate himself to a disinterested Dawn.
As security chief William, Peace was intense as a troubled man who must wrestle with his high moral code. He must weigh his brother’s incompetent court-appointed lawyer against his history of crime.
Stigliano is convincing as Bill, the jaded New York cop, a combination of authoritarian toughness and moral weakness. Bill goes to bat for his friend William with the district attorney, and faces the consequences when the truth comes to light.
Dawn, his partner, puts on the tough-cop demeanor, but she’s not ready to deal with the demands of the police boys’ club.
Playwright Lonergan fully fleshes out each character’s personality, revealing both strengths and weaknesses, and the cast members thoroughly inhabit these roles. Unfortunately, the script never delivers any huge revelations.
The audience has a fly-on-the-wall viewpoint of four people under pressure. But with the length of the play — and the humidity caused by Thursday night’s rain — some members were also squirming.