from
Metroland ...
Getting to Know You By
Kathy Ceceri Visiting Mr. Green
is a showcase for the actor playing the elderly
widower of the title, and in Curtain Call's
production of the play (which starred Eli
Wallach in its world premiere at the Berkshire
Theatre Festival in 1996) Paul Richer is uncanny
as the sort of crotchety Jewish pessimist
who drives younger relatives crazy. Lost and
distracted since the recent death of his beloved
wife of nearly 60 years, Mr. Green shuffles
around his Upper West Side apartment (skillfully
designed by Dee Mulford), overflowing with
old bills, paper bags and dirty laundry, until
a busy young executive begins stopping by
to lend a hand.
Ross Gardiner, played by Jonathan Whitton,
is not related to Mr. Green, although there
is a connection. The two were involved in
a traffic accident, as a result of which Gardiner
must make weekly visits to the older man for
six months or go to jail. Playwright Baron
gets a lot of mileage out of Gardiner's repeated
explanations to the forgetful 86-year-old
of why he is there.
"If you saw me, why did you hit me?"
"I didn't hit you. I almost
hit you."
Helping Mr. Green is not an easy job. He doesn't
want his piles of mail touched or the dead
flowers in the vase discarded. His phone is
disconnected—"Who needs it?"—his
curtains always drawn, and there's no TV to
connect him to the outside world. He nearly
has a fit when Gardiner tries to bring him
some soup, fearing it will contaminate his
kosher kitchen until convinced it comes from
Fine & Shapiro down the street. Then,
although his refrigerator is completely empty,
he refuses to admit he’s hungry or that
the food tastes good, only deigning to eat
because it would be a shame to waste it. But
over time the two men form a bond which, despite
Green’s inability to discard all his
old prejudices, becomes surprisingly close.
Playwright Jeff Baron, a former corporate
marketing exec and television writer, doesn't
do anything new with the dramatic form here,
but in his straightforward way does achieve
some truly funny and touching moments. Speaking
as the granddaughter of a Jew who came to
New York from Russia at around the same time
as the fictional Mr. Green, I found the character
(helped, of course, by Richer's performance
and Marna Lawrence's direction) utterly convincing.
But Baron is somewhat less successful with
Gardiner, the Harvard-trained businessman.
It's hard to believe that even 10 years ago
a Gen-X financial wizard would be walking
around without a cell phone, let alone so
afraid to admit he's a fagele, at least among
his peers. Adding to the disconnect is a feeling
that Jonathan Whitton is just not made to
wear a business suit; he doesn't quite have
that Master of the Universe swagger required
of all young New York hotshots. It’s
only as Gardiner begins to let down his guard,
talking about his running or his personal
life—and perhaps not coincidentally,
as Baron ratchets up the emotional volume
of the play as well—that Whitton comes
into his own. While
critics have argued that Baron’s ending
is not realistic, for the audience it is totally
satisfying. And after all, who said a play
that talks about serious things can’t
have a happy ending?
