FeedsTipping Point's ' "Manuscript" is solid fun
Staff Writer
In this somewhat jaded society, being surprised by a clever plot is an unusual entertainment feat.
Luckily, Paul Grellong’s ‘Manuscript’ delivers, serving up the clever dialogue and grim surprises people used to expect from psychological dramas. The play, appearing at the Tipping Point Theater until May 24, ruthlessly dissects the shifting politics of greed among three college students who stumble across the opportunity of a lifetime.
Directed by Aaron Moore, the outstanding cast and swift changes of fortune will keep audiences guessing until the end.
The play begins with two college roommates, Chris (Brian Thibault) and David (Patrick O’Connor Cronin), anxiously awaiting the arrival of Chris’ girlfriend Elizabeth (Aphrodite Hawkins). David, an aspiring writer, is eager to meet published writer Elizabeth, only to find out that she is actually an ex-girlfriend who plagiarized a magazine article from him back in high school.
David, eager to end the charade, is horrified to discover that Elizabeth has been planning this “reunion” for a long time. While Chris is out scoring drugs for their impromptu party, David agrees to keep up the masquerade to protect Chris’ feelings.
All that becomes backdrop however, when Chris returns and reveals that their writing mentor/drug dealer was dead when he arrived, and Chris slipped out before the cops could question him. Not, of course, before he grabbed the only copy of his almost finished manuscript, which only the three of them know about.
David and Chris agree that they should contact their friend’s publisher and return it.
Elizabeth says that she wants to talk about “options” first—and that’s when the fun really gets started.
Most impressive about Grellong’s astute piece is the quick, off-the-cuff dialogue that captures the natural ease of a lifelong friendship perfectly. Chris and David tease and mock one another, picking up the thread of half-finished conversations without preamble, and talking about random half-baked philosophies as if arguments have been well worn and ongoing.
Elizabeth, too, is a well-developed character who prattles on pretentiously about obscure writers and subjects as if hoping to simultaneously impress and intimidate others. Her cloying self-interest drives the entire script, and although Hawkins may have a bit too much sympathy for her greedy, manipulative character, she brings her ever-shifting personality to life, and makes her the pivotal force in the production.
All the performances are outstanding. Patrick O’Connor is brilliant and believable as the self-effacing working class writer who decides that, this time around, he might want a piece of the action, while Brian Thibault plays the casual aristocrat with the kind of off-handed arrogance that only the elite seem privy to.
Throughout the production they juggle wordy, witty dialogue and Moore’s carefully random staging as naturally as if it were lifelong friends, implying an intimacy that the audience feels part of simply from sheer proximity.
Manuscript is showing at the Tipping Point Theater through May 24 with shows running Thursday through Sunday.
For more information or tickets, contact (248) 347-0003, or visit www.tippingpointtheatre.org.
