John Pollono’s 2013 script, Small Engine Repair, will remind many theatergoers of David Mamet’s terse, staccato plays, replete with macho male behavior, crude language and dark humor. But the play, produced by Clifton Players and Untethered Theater, strikes a resonant chord in 2017 with a trio of blue-collar guys weary of being pushed aside by people of privilege.
Not that Pollono’s three characters are especially admirable. Friends from boyhood in Manchester, N. H., they’ve reached their later thirties (36) without achieving much. Frank (Nathan Neorr) operates a “small engine repair” shop where he makes a living fixing lawnmowers, weed whackers, snow blowers and such. A single dad, he’s struggled to save for college for his daughter. But alcohol and anger have been constant factors — in fact, more often than not, obstacles — in his life. The story unfolds in his shop, where he has enticed his longtime friends with fabricated invitations.
Packie (Charlie Roetting) arrives in a state of panic because Frank intimated he’s been diagnosed with cancer. Packie is unemployed, unattached and largely unhappy. He spends most of his time on Facebook, Foursquare and other social media sites. He’s not stupid, but he’s clearly aimless.
Swaino (Carter Bratton) and Packie have had a falling out over a trivial disagreement and they’ve avoided each other for some time. Frank told Swaino that a few strippers might show up for the evening’s entertainment, and that was enough for the guy. The friction between Frank’s buddies is palpable and hilarious as they spar with one another.
They’re both irritated with Frank for bringing them together under false pretenses. But when he pulls out the bottle of Jameson Irish whiskey, they’re appeased. When he produces a second bottle — this one Johnnie Walker Blue Label scotch — tossing back shots and reminiscing create a guys’ night full of crude but good-natured banter.
Frank tells them he’s invited a college-age acquaintance, a basketball player and frat boy from Northeastern University who sells drugs on the side. Frank suggests they’ll share some Ecstasy when Chad (Rupert Spraul) shows up.
Chad, it turns out, is a privileged kid whose influential lawyer dad has rescued him from several narrow scrapes. His condescension toward Frank, Packie and Swaino takes the story around the bend into dangerous, unexpected and very contemporary territory. In fact, social media impact the story in several unexpected ways.
Clifton Performance Theatre, in the basement of an apartment building on Ludlow Avenue in Clifton, is an extremely close space outfitted with about 50 seats. Actor entrances are made through the same door the audience comes through, and more than once a guy heads up steps to the john that also serves as the theater’s men’s room.
Pollono’s sharp writing evokes a lot of laughter before Frank’s anger and the circumstances turn the play from a comedy to a thriller. People who have been laughing at the snarky exchanges are suddenly inches away from events far tenser and highly discomforting. There’s no escape. Small Engine Repair is not theater for the faint-hearted, so I can only recommend it for those with a high threshold for savage behavior.
But the actors put on bravado performances that are convincing and engaging. Neorr’s Frank is a decent man, pushed beyond the bounds of appropriate behavior by the cavalier and dismissive behavior of Spraul’s Chad. Roetting’s Packie is the story’s sad-sack comedian, a social misfit who wishes he were better, but just can’t find the will to really step up. Nevertheless, his monologue recreating a moment in the sixth game of the 1986 World Series between the Red Sox and the Mets is an especially fine highlight. Bratton’s Swaino is convincing.
Jared R. Doren has directed the 70-minute production in an efficient and straightforward manner, enabling each actor room to develop his character. There’s a spark of goodness that glimmers through this challenged friendship, but it’s a harsh path to resolution and one that will leave you wondering if it can last.
SMALL ENGINE REPAIR continues through April 15 at Clifton Performance Theatre. Tickets/more info: cliftonperformancetheatre.com.
This article appears in Apr 5-12, 2017.
