What happens when a best-selling novelist and storyteller turns his gimlet eye on society? The answer is Chris Bohjalian’s “The Club” now playing at George Street Playhouse and though it is set in 1968, it will rock you back on your post-modern heels.
The night before was one wild party, as evidenced by the empties strewn around the late mid-century modern living room. This is the Barrows home and the hosts Anna and Anna (real life spouses Ali Marsh and Frederick Weller) each had indiscreet moments at the previous evening’s drunken, well, Bacchanal. Hey, it’s 1968, right? The play begins with the Barrows’ teen aged daughter Olive (Skyler Hensley) paging through an Archie’s comic when Richard comes downstairs with a small suitcase. Separate corners for a bit until the acrimony of matrimony cools down? And like a shot, the story is off and running.
Richard’s bestie is neighbor Peter Kendricks (Ryan George). Both are advertising executives, and Peter and his wife Angela (Samaria Nixon-Fleming) are expecting – both a child and to hear positive news about their application for The Club. They are the first Black family to move into the neighborhood and you think you can predict the outcome of their application. It’s 1968 and Brown v. The Board of Education had just been decided. But there was still a lot of change to come and it was not always swiftly done. The How and the Why may surprise you. When Anna calls a cocktail meeting on the Sunday immediately after the party to address what she thinks is the elephant in the room, she invites the Kendricks and John and Marion Willows (Brendan Ryan and Grace Experience). John is the mens’ boss at the ad agency and his family founded The Club, could be a two-fer there. Anna feels like John is the villain, and she has a bone to pick with Marion from the night before. How it spins out is something that will have you considering what Bohjalian is saying about society then, and how far and how not we have progressed.
James Youmans scenic designs and projections with Scott Killian’s sound designs and original music are a gladsome walk down memory lane. It’s a trivia trip that takes you back and truly sets the stage for what’s to come. And the set, limned by Tyler Micoleau’s lighting is a glorious one-two punch. It is truly walking back in time. The costumes by Lisa Zinni with Tommy Kurzman’s hair and wig design complete the tableau and the arguments are both familiar and new as we get to experience every inflection of “Who do we think we are”. The ensemble acts so beautifully that the relationships all feel very real. Hensley’s Olive is as curious as I can remember being, eavesdropping on the grown-ups. Anna is a doer but her energy is directed differently than where it should be. Rife with moments that cause shudders today, like Angela pouring herself a drink while pregnant, this is a show that may be history for Gen Y, Gen Z and Millennials, it is our-story for Boomer and Gen Jones and we can all learn from it together.
Chris Bohjalian’s world premiere of The Club is only on through March 17 at George Street Playhouse. Get your tickets now. Visit https://www.georgestreetplayhouse.org/events/detail/the-club .