By Carol Davis
SAN DIEGO—Frankie and Johnny, two losers on the food chain of love, find each other while working together in a small greasy spoon restaurant. She is a waitress and he is the short order cook. We come across them in her New York walk-up tenement in the West 50’s after a night of lovemaking that sounds like a volcano erupting.
Both satisfied that they had satiated each other and that ‘it was good for both of them.’ she opts for a meatloaf sandwich, offers him the same and then invites him to leave. She wants and needs her space back. He on the other hand stares in amazement and wonders out loud how he could be so lucky as to have finally met his soul mate, his Kismet.
WOA! Not so fast, cautions Frankie!
Like the push me pull you of Dr. Doolittle fame Frankie (DeAnna Driscoll) and Johnny (Jeffrey Jones) jab and poke at each other all night as they dance a familiar dance. The lovemaking was great but it’s over and she wants him to leave. She only wanted a one-night stand. He on the other hand is convinced that there is more to them than that.
Life isn’t always that easy though, she retorts. Both have been hurt by their past lovers. Both are lonely. Each is afraid of being hurt again. Both are in their beyond thirty years of life and in a funny rat tat tat rapid fire exchange they keep upping their age when the subject of it comes up. They ultimately settle on the truth of their ages much to their relief.
They inadvertently share their past track records as the night wears on, with the give and take of their reasons of why he should go as opposed to why he should stay that matches their respective moods even though they wander into some uncomfortable territory; she was abused, he was married and has a prison record.
Neither is a so-called beauty and they are after all, no spring chickens. “Pretend we’re the only people in the world,” Johnny insists. Frankie pushes and continues that Johnny leave her apartment. He stubbornly resists, encouraging her to just let go of the past and let love happen.
Terrence McNally’s Frankie & Johnny in the Clair de Lune, opened in 1987 at the Manhattan Theatre Club and has been making the rounds at smaller venues over the years. McNally has also written: Corpus Christi; Love, Valour, Compassion; Master Class; and Lips Together Teeth Apart to name a few. Frankie and Johnny is the perfect play for the BLKBOX venue. In fact just about all of the above mentioned, would do well in this theatre.
Co artistic directors Glenn Paris and Claudio Raygoza are indeed taking advantage of their newly renovated space at what was once dubbed 6th @ Penn and are hosting three plays running in repertory, on weekends and off nights; All In The Timing is saved for the weekends (reviewed earlier), Gamers as a late night snack, and Frankie and Johnny for the early in the week, early in the evening viewers.
Opening night at Frankie and Johnny was filled to capacity– an indication that if there is good theatre out there, it will be supported.
Director Raygoza steers his actors beautifully into the no man’s land of emotional highs and lows. Jones is all over the place as he tries to seize the moment with his persistent optimism and uncanny up beat outlook while never missing a beat to sneak in a zinger, a kiss or a touch while she least expects it.
Driscoll is perfect as the once hopeful but now rejected actress turned waitress as she matches his pleas tit for tat with sarcasm, mockery and a yeoman’s attempt at not being able to be persuaded by his arguments. She’s afraid of getting too close and not wanting to get hurt again. And furthermore, she really knows nothing about him, she argues. He could be a creep.
Ion’s production is captivating, funny, romantic and most sincere. Both Driscoll and Jones build a chemistry that’s hard to resist and you end up rooting for a happy ending, eternal romantic that I am. Aiding the romance angle is the radio dedication, late into the evening by an all night disc jockey who would still like to ‘believe in love’, by playing for Frankie and Johnny ‘the most beautiful music ever written’, Debussy’s Clair de Lune. It is a magical moment.
Glenn Paris designed the claustrophobic walk up flat to perfection. The bedroom, small, yet working kitchen and one chair living room looking out on to the street and into their neighbors windows against brick walls is just what the doctor ordered. Raygoza’s lighting design brings the moon into its full glory giving the characters another dimension. Caitlin Sussman’s sound design brings it all together.
For all you romantics out there this is a lovely way to spend an evening. Leave the youngsters at home, though. There is some frontal nudity.
See you at the theatre.
***
Dates: May 10-June 1st, Sun. – Tues. @ 7:30 PM. Sun @ 4PM
Organization: ion Theatre Company
Phone: 619-600-5020
Production Type: Romantic Comedy
Where: 3704 6th Avenue, Hillcrest
Ticket Prices: $10.00-$25.00
Web: iontheare.com
Venue: BLKBOX. Off The Radar Series
**
Davis is a San Diego-based theatre critic