‘Drawer Boy’ rich in comedy, drama at SCR

Tom Titus

Sometimes, the most unpretentious ideas prove the most profound. Who

would imagine, for instance, that a play about two reclusive Canadian

farmers and a young city-bred actor would be among the most enriching

events of the entire season?

Michael Healey’s “The Drawer Boy,” which closes out the season at

South Coast Repertory, is a very welcome surprise. It is at once a

rousingly funny play and an exceptionally involving exercise, and the

territory it traverses is far from familiar once the

“fish-out-of-water” plot is exhausted.

To begin with, the Drawer Boy is not a kid who sleeps in a bureau,

as might be imagined. The word “drawer” here defines an artist, one

of two World War II buddies who operate a farm in rural Canada -- the

other being the Farm Boy.

It is 1972, and this agricultural operation has been going on

since 1942, when Angus (Jimmie Ray Weeks) got his brains fried in an

explosion in England, robbing him of short-term memory.

The Farm Boy, Morgan (Hal Landon Jr.), bears some guilt for Angus’

condition and has cared for him ever since, running the farm while

Angus -- who’s a mathematical Rain Man -- does the bookkeeping.

Things are fine until Miles (J. Todd Adams) arrives seeking material

for a theater project.

City boys in the country, and vice versa, are gold mines for cheap

laughs, and Healey’s script has its share before turning to more

weighty matters. Such as the two women the fellows almost married

back in the 1940s who, though not depicted, are central to the story

line.

When Miles mixes these elements -- which he’s gleaned

surreptitiously -- into his farm life project, and displays it to the

two old farmers at a rehearsal, the cow patties hit the fan, at least

where Morgan is concerned. But it seems to be therapeutic for Angus,

so Miles is reluctantly allowed to stay, paving the way for an even

more startling discovery.

All three actors excel under Martin Benson’s superb direction, but

it’s Weeks’ addled Angus who, predictably, is the most memorable.

Weeks portrays his mental ineptitude brilliantly, particularly in the

play’s later scenes when frustration sets in and he must confront

Morgan in a battle of wills he has no hope of winning.

Landon, an SCR founding artist who commands a stage with economy

of speech or movement, is perfectly cast as the no-nonsense Morgan,

who nevertheless misses no opportunity to upset Angus or discomfit

the visiting Miles. His rock-solid demeanor plays beautifully against

the other two characters’ failings.

The theatrically trained Miles, woefully out of his element on a

farm, receives a richly effective portrayal from Adams, who persists

with his mission despite the injury and embarrassment involved. It is

his perception that leads to the ultimate discovery of the truth

behind the rural pair’s strange lives.

SCR is notable for its scenic excellence, but James Youmans’ farm

interior and exterior is a particular triumph. The setting, though

fragmented, abounds in atmosphere, down to the time-distressed wood

in the kitchen cabinets.

This rural realism is continued in Sylvia Rognstad’s unpretentious

costuming, John Philip Martin’s lighting and Karl Fredrik Lundeberg’s

tender musical transitions. Even the Canadian “oots” and “aboots”

fall naturally, thanks to dialect coach Joel Goldes’ training.

SCR is closing out its first season in its gleaming new theater

complex with one of its finest productions in “The Drawer Boy.”

Healey’s dramatic comedy sticks to the ribs like good farm cooking.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Saturdays.