"THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE" will be presented by Cyrano's Off-Center Playhouse at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through June 8 at 413 D St.Tickets are $17.50 (277-2599, WWW.centertix.net)
Depending on where your head's at in this time of war and economic uncertainty, the bar play "The Time of Your Life" may feel like a refreshing draught of optimism, or it may come across as falsely cheery as beer goggles.
Either way, playwright William Saroyan's message has the simple complexity of a Chinese proverb and the go-get-'em spirit of a high school English teacher on graduation day: "In the time of your life, live." You know, like carpe diem, but in English.
Contrasting with its light and bright message, the play is brutally difficult to stage. For one, it has a cast of 23 actors -- a massive number for Cyrano's Lilliputian stage and a major challenge for any director, even one as experienced as Dick Reichman. "Time" has about a dozen mini plots. And there's lots of debate about the play's intended style and mood and the pseudo-surreal nature of some of the text.
At Friday night's opening, Cyrano's Theatre Company didn't surmount all the play's obstacles. But there were bright spots, including live music, the wonderfully diverse casting and Brian Saylor's atmospheric bar set, complete with working beer tap. The cast offered up luscious moments of comedy and high drama including a breakout performance by Henry Weaver.
Written in 1939, this play is sort of like "It's a Wonderful Life" meets "Cheers." Saroyan's barflies are down-and-out eccentrics who haven't given up hope, no matter if their dreams are as big as finding love or as small as besting a pinball machine. Joe (Ross Emerson) is a champagne-swilling Samaritan with mysterious wealth who acts as the master of ceremonies in this booze-drenched circus.
Outside the bar's swinging doors, a longshoreman strike bubbles over, and World War II looms on the horizon.
Not all the cast was on the same page, especially before intermission. Some characters were wholly realistic, while others were theatrical, vaudevillian even (which is often the approach for this play). A few characters were downright cartoonish. For instance, Kevin Bennett as a member of the vice squad appears inspired almost entirely by Dick Tracy and hardly at all by the Nazi prototype on the page.
The stylistic inconsistencies were distracting and made it difficult for some characters to interact with each other. The style clash may also have contributed to the herky-jerky comic timing in the play's first half. There is a lot more humor in the script than the cast was able to convey.
That said, taking the performances independently, there were many moments of memorable acting, especially by Weaver, who played bar owner Nick, a smart-alecky straight shooter who reveals surprising tenderness. This is only Weaver's second play in town, but his Outside resume is long -- his chops will be welcome on any local stage.
The audience's favorite was the hysterical Ron Holmstrom in the juicy role of Kit Carson, a grizzled cowpoke with a tall tale for every occasion.
But overall, the execution of this Pulitzer Prize-winning play is lacking. In the vein of Saroyan's idealistic spirit, let's hope this group of artists takes to heart the journey of character Willie, played with quiet confidence by Earl Smith.
Willie spends most of the play at the pinball machine, persistently tweaking strategies, banging his head against the wall and going back for more until he finally erupts in a joyous, hard-earned victory. This talented cast has the potential to do the same with more rehearsal and a cohesive approach.
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