Stage Of Friends Cast Forges Believable Characters From A Script Of Forced Cleverness

I should stipulate right from the beginning that I was not crazy about Mark O’Donnell’s script for this comedy about twentysomethings in Manhattan.

While O’Donnell has created some credible characters, his plot seems to be restricted to “Here are some of my college friends and what happened to them when they went to live in Manhattan.” Except for some unremarkable romantic adventures, not a whole lot actually does happen to them.

And O’Donnell’s dialogue constantly reaches just a bit too far in trying to be clever.

Example: “You and your relentless one-downsmanship.”

Or this dialogue, when the just-graduated Priss shows up for a job interview with Hank:

Hank: “Hi! Hank Knox! You must be Priss!”

Priss: “I’m afraid I must!”

Hank: “Why? Do you feel sentenced to it?”

Do you feel sentenced to it? Would anybody say this in conversation, especially during the opening small talk of a job interview?

Because so much of the dialogue grated on me, I was hard-pressed to tell how many of the problems came from the script, and how many came from the production. In general, I liked the production better than the script.

Director Pat Owens has given the entire proceedings a “Friends”-like ambience, with bouncy college-rock playing between scenes, and characters lounging around on couches a lot. Owens sometimes overdoes the informality - I’m not certain that it works to have the stage crew be an almost constant presence. They are always walking around between scenes, and often during scenes. However, it does give the show a kind of youthful breeziness.

The three men in the cast did a good job of forging believable characters from O’Donnell’s sometimes-difficult script. The standout was Jhon Goodwin as Mutt Vespucci, a crass and vulgar carpenter. Goodwin gets plenty of mileage from the character’s obnoxious observations about bodily functions and sex, but ultimately, Goodwin turns him into the most sympathetic character of the evening. Mutt is much more intelligent, and much more sensitive than he appears.

Young business entrepreneur Hank Knox is played with zest and intelligence by Charlie Driskel, a dead ringer for a young Al Franken. And Cheyenne Jackson bravely tackles the difficult role of Pony, a gospel-singing Mormon who turns out, somewhat to his surprise, to be gay.

Gretchen Oyster and Amy Townsend play the two woman characters, Margaret and Priss. Both seemed a bit too self-conscious. They were acting as opposed to submersing themselves in their roles. However, both had effective scenes in which they lost that self-consciousness and truly became Margaret and Priss.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: “Strangers on Earth” Friday, Jan. 26, Spokane Civic’s Studio Theatre, continues through Feb. 17, call 325-2507