{"id":7047,"date":"2013-08-31T16:32:02","date_gmt":"2013-08-31T23:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=7047"},"modified":"2013-08-31T16:33:45","modified_gmt":"2013-08-31T23:33:45","slug":"bay-area-premiere-of-good-people-by-david-lindsay-abaire-at-mtc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/bay-area-premiere-of-good-people-by-david-lindsay-abaire-at-mtc\/","title":{"rendered":"Bay Area Premiere of Good People by David Lindsay-Abaire at MTC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Amy Resnick as Margie and Mark Anderson Phillips\u00a0as Mike\u00a0in the Good People<\/em> at Marin Theatre Company through September 15th.<\/p>\n

Marin Theatre Company opens its 2013\/2014 season with the Bay Area and National Premiere of the hit play Good People <\/em>by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. According to Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis, \u201cIt\u2019s an insightful look at the difficult choices good people are forced to make when the well being of their family is threatened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Good People <\/em>is full of interesting characters and sharply written scenes which combine to paint an indelible portrait of the economically deprived blue-collar culture of Boston\u2019s South End.<\/p>\n

Tracy Young, an Oregon Shakespeare Festival regular directs this play with intelligence and sensitivity, eliciting top-notch performances from a powerhouse cast.<\/p>\n

Margie Walsh (Amy Resnick), a lifelong resident of Southie, a blue collar Boston neighborhood, is fired due to tardiness at her cashier job at a dollar store.\u00a0 A single mother, and knowing that she and her handicapped adult daughter, Joyce, supposedly born premature before Margie\u2019s husband left her, are only a single pay check away from a desperate situation.\u00a0 Looking for employment, Margie goes to her old high school boyfriend Mike (Mark Anderson Phillips) now a doctor, but formerly from her neighborhood.\u00a0 Margie shames Mike into inviting her (however reluctantly) to his birthday party in Chestnut Hill. She is looking forward to the party because she views it as a chance to meet potential employers.\u00a0 Her friends Dottie (Anne Darragh) and Jean (Jamie Jones) encourage her to tell Mike that her daughter Joyce was not born premature, but is his, in hopes of getting support from Mike.\u00a0 When Mike calls to tell her his party is cancelled, Margie assumes that he is dis-inviting her because he\u2019s embarrassed to have her mix with his doctor friends.\u00a0 She decides to go to his house anyway with the intent of crashing the party.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of Act II, Margie arrives at Mike\u2019s house only to discover the party has been cancelled.\u00a0 Mike\u2019s elegant young African-American wife, Kate (ZZ Moor) at first, mistakes Margie for a caterer. Once the misunderstanding is resolved, Kate invites Margie to stay and reminisce about Mike\u2019s past.\u00a0 A discussion begins and Mike tells Margie her current financial problems are her own fault for not trying hard enough and Margie tries to explain to Mike that he had a lucky break which most people from Southie did not.<\/p>\n

Later, Margie\u2019s landlady receives an envelope containing Margie\u2019s rent. Thinking Mike sent it, Margie intends to return it to him.\u00a0 At bingo, it is revealed that the envelope is from Stevie (Ben Euphrat), her former boss at the dollar store.\u00a0 Upon learning this, Margie accepts the money as an indefinite loan and Stevie agrees to help her find a new job.<\/p>\n

This is Amy Resnick\u2019s show as Margie and she grabs it and doesn\u2019t let go.\u00a0 Mark Anderson Phillips gives his affable Mike a wary demeanor around Margie which suggests his unease with this woman from a world he escaped long ago.\u00a0 ZZ Moor depicts the accomplished Kate with a crisp air and blinding smile.\u00a0 Jamie Jones undercuts her cozy appearance as a Southie neighbor with a sardonic edge.\u00a0 Ann Darragh is delightfully funny as Margie\u2019s landlady.\u00a0 Ben Euphrat smartly stresses Stevie\u2019s decency.\u00a0 This fine ensemble brings a sense of warm humanity to David Lindsay-Abaire\u2019s affecting story of haves and mostly have-nots.<\/p>\n

Good People <\/em>runs at Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, August 22-September 15, 2013.\u00a0 Performance days are Tuesday and Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m.; Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. Matinees are every Sunday at 2 p.m. with extra performances on September 14 at 2 p.m. and Thursday, September 5 at 1 p.m. For tickets, call the box office at 415-388-5208 or go to \u00a0www.marintheatre.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Coming up next at Marin Theatre Company will be the World Premiere of I and You<\/em> by Lauren Gunderson and directed by Sarah Rasmussen, October 10-November 3, 2013.<\/p>\n

Flora Lynn Isaacson<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amy Resnick as Margie and Mark Anderson Phillips\u00a0as Mike\u00a0in the Good People at Marin Theatre Company through September 15th. Marin Theatre Company opens its 2013\/2014 season with the Bay Area…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7047","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-flora-lynn-isaacson"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"