Good theater entertains; great theater touches your humanity

Visiting Mr. Green – Epilogue Players’ current production – is short in length, has only two characters, and just one set. It’s quite a simple show in many ways. But its themes and messages are highly significant. Playwright Jeff Baron’s 1996 creation has been performed around the world.

Mr. Green is a Jewish widower in his 70s living alone in a small, dumpy NYC apartment. We are told that recently he was almost struck by a car driven by Ross Gardiner, a young man in his 30s who was driving too recklessly and who is sentenced by the court to do six months of community service with weekly visits to aid Mr. Green. What starts as a forced mismatch of two men who have vastly different outlooks and experiences, becomes a life-changing coupling of two needy individuals.

Mr. Green (Tom Bartley, left) shows a picture of his wife to Ross (Grant Bowen). (Photo by Duane Mercier)

Mac Bellner directs her first Epilogue endeavor with an adroit hand. We see the lack of understanding that each man has for the other, the deep chasms in their souls, the changes that must be made to be better men.

Tom Bartley takes the role of the aged Mr. Green. Not being 70 himself doesn’t seem to hinder his performance one bit. His characterization is full of tones of agedness and Hebrew upbringing. Ross Gardiner is played by Grant Bowen, whom we haven’t seen onstage since his fine appearance here in Miracle on South Division Street. Bowen takes Ross on a very emotional journey, facing hard realizations about self, family, and his place in the world.

The show features a wonderful set designed by Ed Trout and an array of costumes by Terese Burns.

Bottom line: Mrs. K and I enjoyed a very moving performance of this important play. Many in the audience had tears in their eyes as the story, full of some tough realizations about our human condition, came forth.

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