Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero blends working relationships tested by an ethical dilemma in this comedic drama that gets a timely staging by Shattered Globe Theatre. Is the titular Lobby Hero the loopy security guard Jeff, played by Elliott Esquivel, or his straight-arrow superior William (Terence Sims)? It may be the serious police rookie Dawn (Emma Jo Boyden) who really wants to do the right thing and succeed in her new job. But it certainly is not the senior cop named Bill (Adam Schulmerich), whose life and career are tainted with infidelity and toxic masculinity.
These four well-drawn characters, directed by Nate Santana, make up the powerful story that spools out in act one and erupts into action in act two. While William, Bill and Dawn come and go in the lobby of a high-rise apartment building in New York, Jeff never leaves. He’s on duty as the night shift security guard—security guard, not doorman, as he frequently explains. Jeff is talkative, hyperactive and in constant motion throughout the play. William, his serious play-by-the-rules supervisor, sometimes listens to Jeff, sometimes ignores him, but tries to give him career- and life-building advice because Jeff seems to him a lost soul without proper goals in life.
During one of these interludes when William stops by on his rounds, he confides to Jeff about his own problem. His deadbeat brother got involved with two other guys in a drug theft at a local hospital; the crime ended with a nurse being fatally attacked. William is troubled because his brother’s girlfriend wants him to provide an alibi for his brother: They were at the movies together when the crime was committed. Should William, generally a buttoned-up supervisor, have confided that to Jeff? Perhaps not, but that’s where the story begins to get tangled up. Lonergan’s story shifts relationships among the four characters throughout the play.
The two beat cops converse in the street outside the lobby. (Clever set design by José Manuel Diaz-Soto gives us a glimpse of the street through a blind-covered window and outside the apartment building. Bill brags about his “supercop” reputation to his rookie partner, who clearly admires him—and perhaps there’s more to the relationship than is really professional. Bill is a regular visitor to Jeff’s building as he visits a “friend” in 22-J. It happens that Jeff knows that the resident of 22-J is a woman who has many male visitors and he spills that knowledge to Dawn.
The stage is thus set for the ethical dilemma that erupts in act two when Jeff and Dawn have a long heated conversation about defining and speaking the truth. Elements of racism, gender inequality, and police brutality spike up the drama throughout the play.
Santana’s direction is sharp and keeps the dialog and movement brisk. All four actors give excellent performances, but Esquivel’s Jeff is an animated worker in a role that could be played as a desk jockey. He’s never still, rarely quiet and finds tasks to keep him busy, from sweeping the floor, polishing doorknobs, hanging holiday decorations, and skating around in his desk chair. He’s a whirling dervish of a doorman…oops, security guard. None of these tasks are in the Lonergan script so they’ve been dreamed up to delineate Jeff’s character by Santana and Esquivel. And thanks to that direction, Esquivel makes the most of his solid two-plus hours on stage.
Enhancing Diaz-Soto’s set design are Ellie Fey’s lighting, Mariah Bennett’s props, and Uriel Gomez’s costumes. Christopher Kriz further establishes the scene with original music and sound design. Tina M. Jach is production stage manager.
Lobby Hero was staged on Broadway in 2001 and revived in 2018. (Goodman Theatre and Redtwist Theatre have staged it in Chicago.) Lonergan’s other plays include This Is Our Youth and The Waverly Gallery (which starred Elaine May in its Broadway run).
Lobby Hero by Shattered Globe Theatre continues through March 1 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. Running time is about two hours plus an intermission. Tickets are $15-$48.50.
For more information on this and other productions, see theatreinchicago.com.
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