GOOD PEOPLE

by DICK KEREKES & LEISLA SANSOM
Gainesville’s Hippodrome Theatre opened its first production of 2014 with the Tony Award nominated play “GOOD PEOPLE.” Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, his work is not unfamiliar to North Florida audiences. Theatre Jacksonville produced the acclaimed “Rabbit Hole,” and Players by the Sea did the quirky “Fuddy Mears” a couple of seasons back.”Good People” will be on stage in downtown Gainesville through February 2. Call (352) 375-4477 for reservations or visit thehipp.org.
The central character of this play is Margaret (SARA MORSEY) who is pushing fifty, and lives in Southie, the Boston blue-collar neighborhood where she was born and raised. She has an adult disabled daughter, who is bedridden and requires constant care and supervision, to whom she is devoted.
The opening scene in the play is in an office where she is meeting with Stevie (MATTHEW LINDSAY), her much younger boss at the dollar store where she has been a cashier for several years. He explains he is firing her for being habitually late for work. When she pleads with him to give her just one more chance, pointing out that the main reason she is late is that the sitter for her disabled daughter is always late, he tells her he really has no choice if he wants to remain employed.
Margaret is faced with a dilemma that faces many workers in today’s economy. Who will hire her? She didn’t graduate from high school, knows she doesn’t have the stamina to work at a factory job, and is abrasive and quick to turn to stereotypes in her interactions with others.
Margaret’s landlady Dottie (CHRISTINE MCMURDO-WALLIS), although a bingo-playing friend and babysitter to Margaret’s daughter, is still money conscious and is planning to evict her if she can’t find a way to pay the rent.
Jean (NELL PAGE), Margaret’s best friend, informs her that Mike (KEVIN RAINSBERGER), her high school boyfriend, is back in Boston. He somehow escaped from the slum life where Margaret and her friends remain mired, and is now a renowned and wealthy physician, with a home in one of the most expensive neighborhoods of the city.
Jean suggests that Margaret, for old time’s sake, meet with him, as he might be able to give her a job or know where she can find one. She is a very calculating person and manages to wangle a reluctant invitation to a huge birthday party at his home with lots of movers and shakers in attendance and possibly potential employers.
Act Two begins at Mike’s home on the night of the planned party, which has been cancelled due to illness of his young daughter. Mike had notified Margaret of the cancellation, but she thinks he is lying to her, and shows up anyway; she is indeed an opportunist. Mike’s wife Kate (FELECIA HARRELSON) is young, attractive, black, and a college professor, who welcomes Margaret’s visit as she is interested in hearing her stories about Mike’s past. Sparks fly in the heat of anger as secrets are revealed and to tell more would be a real spoiler.
Margaret was superbly acted by Ms. Morsey, and she embodies a thought-provoking character. Will you be sympathetic toward her, or critical that she did not try to improve her life and rise above the slum called Southie? The play poses many questions about class, wealth, and society as we view them through the eyes of characters of both sides of the fence.
The same set was used for all the locations, which included Margaret’s apartment, a bingo hall, and the physician’s office and living room. The intimate Hippodrome always makes audience members feel they are a part of the play.
Director LAUREN CALDWELL has mostly cast this show with long-time veterans of the Hippodrome; The exception is Ms. Harrelson, who is making her second appearance at the Hipp. This is a solid cast in every way, and they have portrayed these interesting characters in a most realistic way.
Going to the Hipp is like taking a trip to New York, but less than two hours away. The quality of their productions is the reason they have been so successful for over forty years; they also are one of the first theatres to stage recent New York works.
A side note, management posts at each of the auditorium entrances a poster showing the length of each act and intermission. You can see how valuable this information is, for contracting babysitters, planning transportation, and well, the list goes on and on. We’re recommending the practice to Jacksonville theatres as a service to patrons.