Theater Review: The Whale

Honest,  Gripping Performances Harpoon a Whale of a Play
By Lauren Yarger
Samuel D. Hunter's play The Whale Off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons features a hate-filled person obsessed with killing a sperm whale , but in this "Moby Dick" inspired tale, Ahab is a pint sized daughter and Moby is the 600-pound man who provided the sperm for her birth, but who hasn't there for most of her 17 years. And in this case, the whale is happy to help in the kill.

Charlie (a marvelous Shuler Hensley), so grossly overweight that he barely can move off the couch in the untidy living room of his northern Idaho apartment  (Mimi Lien, scenic design), makes a living teaching online classes in expository writing and grading the mostly horrible essays written by his students on things like "Moby Dick."

He has few visitors, but good friend and nurse Liz (Cassie Beck) stops by regularly to bring food and check on his health, which is deteriorating. Without health insurance, Charlie refuses to go to the hospital for treatment of the congenital heart failure that frequently brings chest pain and shortness of breath.

During a particularly bad attack, while Liz isn't around, Charlie gets help from an unexpected visitor: Elder Thomas (Cory Michael Smith), a Mormon making door-to-door calls as part of a mission for his church. When Liz arrives, she makes it clear that Thomas' religion isn't welcome. Turns out Liz is a former Mormon and so was Charlie's late boyfriend, Alan, whom she claims, was killed by the church. Taken aback, Thomas leaves, but a hint that Charlie might be interested in talking about the church's beliefs prompts him to stop back a few more times. The young Mormon is convinced that, in the face of impending death, Charlie needs to hear about religion more than ever.

What Charlie really wants, however, is to spend some time with his daughter, Ellie (Reyna DeCourcy), whom he hasn't seen since she was 2. Suspended from high school for making "vaguely threatening" remarks about a classmate on her hate blog where she trashes everyone and everything, Ellie shows up at Charlie's doorstep spewing more contempt (made plain in DeCourcy's unwavering body language and facial expressions) and showing no sign that she wants to establish a relationship with her father:

"Just being around you is disgusting. You smell disgusting. Your apartment is disgusting. You look disgusting. The last time I saw you, you were disgusting," she blurts.

 

Discovering that she is flunking out of school, Charlie strikes a bargain with Ellie and agrees to pay her with his hidden nest egg to let him write her essays for her. Liz isn't happy with another interloper. She's convinced that she's the only one who can care about or care for Charlie. She proves this by providing CPR to save him after he chokes on one of three meatball sandwiches she happily provides for him.

 

When Charlie's angry, alcoholic, ex wife Mary (Tasha Lawrence) finds out that Ellie is with her father, we almost can hear the cry of "Thar she blows!" Mary still obviously cares for Charlie, though she is shocked at the size of his girth. She admits that she is at a loss about how to control their cruel daughter who gets joy only by hurling verbal harpoons carrying barbs laced with vitriol.

Not even she can get through to Charlie about taking care of his health, however, as it becomes apparent that his weight gain is a self-imposed suicide attempt in response to the mysterious events around his partner's death.  

David McCallum's razor-sharp direction enables all of the actors to give multi-layered, moving performances of characters who often surprise us by turning out to be different from our first perception. Hensley is superb, mastering not only the emotional side of Charlie's pain, but also his physical limitations, including an alarming wheezing, while costumed in the realistic padding of Jessica Pabst's costume design.

Reminding us of the allusion to that other whale is the sound of the ocean under scene changes (Fitz Patton, sound design). Jane Cox designs the lighting.

Hunter's script, needing very few tweaks, is totally engaging despite the harshness of its topic. This is a "don't miss" of the early season.

The Whale plays a limited engagement through Dec. 9 at Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd St., NYC, between 9th and 10th avenues.

Performances are Tuesdays through Fridays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 and 7 pm with an additional Wednesday matinee performance on Nov. 21 at 2. Single tickets, $60 with some premium seats available at $72, may be purchased online via www.TicketCentral.com, by phone at 212-279-4200 (noon-8 pm daily), or in person.

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