Tracey Scott Wilson is a playwright unafraid of the prickly issues of contemporary life. In Buzzer at the Cincinnati Playhouse, she tells a story that could be set in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine. (It’s actually in New York City.) And the circumstances of a “gentrified” neighborhood certainly complicate the triangle of friends and lovers constituted by Jackson (Eric Lynch), his girlfriend Suzy (Carly Zien) and his boyhood friend Don (Alec Shaw). But the surroundings are more like scenic elements than issues that are deeply explored.
Sure, Jackson has come back to the largely changed neighborhood where he grew up with his single mom. He’s now a successful attorney, a black guy who’s made it and thinks it’s cool to live in the old ’hood as it becomes trendy. Suzy, his white girlfriend, teaches at an inner-city school. Despite the fact that she poses as tough and smart, she’s uncomfortable with the neighborhood and the verbal harassment she gets from guys hanging out nearby.
Don is Jackson’s white friend from childhood. He’s the son of a privileged family, a kid that went off the tracks with drugs — he’s been in rehab eight or nine times and never really straightened out. He convinces Jackson that he’s on the road to recovery, but he needs a place to stay. Suzy takes exception, but Jackson has already agreed. Don once fed his habit nearby, so he thinks he can deal with the guys outside — guys that Jackson, who has become the privileged player, thinks he can handle.
But the circumstances are truly a backdrop for Buzzer’s real drama, the interplay between Jackson, Suzy and Don. Lynch, Zien and Shaw are subtle actors who play their characters naturally and believably. As Jackson, Lynch conveys a bright guy, a good friend easily manipulated and a man used to getting his own way. In Zien’s hands, Suzy has a tough exterior, but her confidence is only skin deep, and she’s vulnerable to Don’s manipulative ways. Shaw has the most complex role, a user in every sense of the word.
Their connections are confused and toxic, a never balanced mix with a troubled past. It’s exacerbated by life in a neighborhood where black and white relations are strained. But race is not the subject: Buzzer is an exploration of truth and honesty. Don keeps pressing for transparency; “No secrets,” he insists when they have “family meetings.” But he constantly hides the truth — especially his feelings for Suzy and his deep-seated resentment of Jackson. Each character is in denial or flat-out dishonest. By play’s end, Don’s friendship with Jackson and Suzy is over, and we have to wonder what will become of the couple’s relationship.
This show is about three volatile, unpredictable and vividly real people in tensely close quarters. With Timothy Douglas’ clear direction, these three fine actors — and Wilson’s excellent, contemporary language — will convince you that you’ve met three painfully human people. But don’t expect a lesson in sociology or urban development. That’s not what Buzzer is about.
BUZZER, presented by the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, continues through April 19.
This article appears in Mar 25-31, 2015.
