Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Samuel D. Hunter’s emotionally bruised GRANGEVILLE is another portrait of damaged souls from Idaho

• By drediman
• February 26, 2025
• No Comments

Earlier this week, Signature Theatre‘a production of Grangeville by Samuel D. Hunter opened Off-Broadway. In essence, the new play tells the story of Arnold and Jerry, two estranged brothers — half-brothers, really — who are brought back into contact with each other when their mother approaches death. As the play unfolds, we learn of their troubled past, particularly of Arnold’s incessant physical abuse at the hands of his big brother Jerry and their mother’s utter neglect of her sons. Unsurprisingly, Arnold eventually flees his home, moving to Europe to become a moderately successful visual artist and live life as an out-and-proud gay man.

The work bears more than a passing resemblance to Hunter’s exquisite previous play A Case for the Existence of God (which was also presented by Signature Theatre). As with all of the playwright’s works, Grangeville is set in Idaho — at least partially — and is focused on excavating damaged souls. Also like that other work, the play is a two-hander that, despite its bleak moments, ends with more than a glimmer of hope. In some ways, the play seems to be the playwright’s answer to True West, Sam Shapard’s iconic tug-of-war play about sibling rivalry. Despite the craft and emotional potency of the play, Grangeville finds Hunter trodding very familiar territory. That being said, the plotting and dialogue have been strikingly pared down to the essence of the drama at hand, representing a sort of “back-to-basics” writing that beautifully highlights the playwright’s themes and his compassion towards his finely drawn (perhaps too finely?) characters.

The staging is by up-and-coming director Jack Serio, who in recent years has been working up the ranks with a series of stylish productions both Off- and Off-Off-Broadway. Here, he has been handed one of his highest profile projects to date, and he doesn’t disappoint. Following Hunter’s writing, Serio’s direction is minimalist yet theatrically effective, and he draws some superb performances from the production’s two actors. Indeed, Paul Sparks and Brian J. Smith give contrasting — albeit both affecting and skillful — performances that portray their characters’ bruised state of being with clarity and nuance, and meld together with a dance-like cadence.

RECOMMENDED

GRANGEVILLE
Off-Broadway, Play
Signature Theatre Company
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through March 23