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How a singular accusation—which may or may not be true—changes not only the life of the accused, but the lives of everyone around him, is the serious stuff at the center of “Conviction.” The production is not only the inaugural offering of Bay Street Theater’s summer season, but also a world premiere of this new drama by Carey Crim under the guidance of the Sag Harbor theater’s new director, Scott Schwartz.
In other words, Mr. Schwartz has a lot riding on this. He can rest easy, for together—with the production’s playwright, cast and crew—they have themselves a winner.
The setup is this: Cool, handsome, erudite teacher who ought be on “Jeopardy” has a loving wife, an innocent adolescent son and good friends—the perfect life. Tom Hodges is the drama coach who makes Shakespeare sing to his high school students by pointing out all the sly sexual innuendo in “Romeo and Juliet,” which they have just staged. As Tom returns home from the play with his wife, Leigh, and another couple, you almost hate him because his life is flawless—as is he, portrayed by the hot Garret Dillahunt, who may conjure up thoughts of that teacher you once had a crush on.
But life changes with the speed of a single phone call, dramatized by a few seconds of stark lighting across the compact stage, designed by Anna Louizos. Tom has been accused of sexually abusing one of his students who was in the play.
Wham.
Despite declaring his innocence, Tom has been sentenced to three years in jail. Leigh, acted by Sarah Paulson, has to take a ho-hum job in the medical field. Her good friend Jayne, portrayed by Elizabeth Reaser, has largely deserted her—or perhaps Leigh just can’t face her. And her son, Nicholas, acted by Daniel Burns, is now doing drugs and almost certainly has several body piercings in places you don’t want to know about if you are past age 15.
As Leigh struggles with life gone amock, she continues to stand by her man post-prison because she believes he is innocent, as he has always insisted. However, there is always that sliver of doubt that sneaks in, and the dialogue hints that maybe ... something happened that wasn’t supposed to. Jayne is pretty sure Tom’s guilty. Her husband, Bruce, portrayed by Brian Hutchison, gives Tom the benefit of the doubt. But with an accusing wife, how can these four really be friends?
Mr. Dillahunt, who has New York and Hollywood credits, makes Tom so immediately likable that you desperately want him to find some level of peace and harmony in the second act of his life. My bent is to believe the woman—so understand that I am going against my leanings to praise how superb Mr. Dillahunt is in the role.
But no slacker is Ms. Paulson as his wife. Her nuanced performance is more than convincing: she is the upbeat teacher’s helpmate, the worn-out pervert’s sorry wife, the beaten-down mother doing all she can to hold everything together and make Tom’s comeback work. Both Ms. Paulson and Mr. Dillahunt have Broadway credits and appeared in “Twelve Years a Slave” together, though they shared no scenes.
Since this is a world premiere and there is no body of analysis to peruse, revealing more here would be unfair to audiences yet to see the drama. If the first act seems like fodder for an afternoon soap, hold on—the second act packs an emotional wallop that leaves you contemplating the fallout of a single accusation. That may or may not be true.
As it unfolds, the writing keeps you wondering just how the story is going to turn out. Ms. Crim has penned no lines in “Conviction” that are memorable. Yet the dialogue is so convincingly true-to-life you feel as if she has been eavesdropping on the characters and merely wrote it down—the hallmark of good drama. The “writing” melts into the characters. Ms. Crim’s other plays have been staged around the country, including by Jeff Daniels’s Purple Rose Theater Company in Michigan—my native state.
“Did he or didn’t he?” is the same question probed by playwright David Mamet in “Oleanna.” Missed the stage play, saw the movie. Since Mr. Mamet directed the film, one assumes that what you see is what he wanted you to. Yuck.
“Conviction” is the better. Come, but be forewarned. Prepare to be disturbed. Prepare to ponder how you would act if one of your neighbors was, seemingly out of nowhere, accused of ... fill-in-the-blank.
“Conviction” will stage every night, except Mondays, through Sunday, June 15, at 8 p.m. at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. Sunday and Tuesday curtain is at 7 p.m. and matinées will stage on Sundays and Wednesdays at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $60.75. Admission to matinée performances for high school and college students, with a valid ID, is free. For more information, call 725-9500 or visit baystreet.org.
on Jun 2, 2014