In the past, Grand Rapids Theatre has struggled to find an audience but in the wake of the many small venues that have popped up in our region, a new theater-going audience has been birthed, enabling many fine and off-the-beaten-path productions to make their way to our city.
This month is no exception as The Lyons, a dark comedic play by Nicky Silver, will make its Michigan premier at Circle Theatre.
Since we have all survived the family disasters that often accompany the holidays like a bad fruitcake or an over-done Ugly Sweater Party where members just turn ugly, Silver’s The Lyons is the tale of Ben Lyons, a dying man whose wife, Rita, casually flips through design magazines imagining what a living room makeover would look like.
Right from the start of this play, it becomes crystal clear that the story of Ben and Rita is some sort of variation or unwritten chapter from the War of the Roses, where the husband’s impending demise will usher in some sort of relief to the wife, who has clearly moved on.
When the play introduces the offspring of these two, well then any preconceived visions of a joyous homecoming visit or even a sentimental goodbye to the dying patriarch go out the window like three-day-old fish left in the hot summer sun.
The play is directed by Rob Karel, who was recently seen performing in Sweeney Todd with probably the sweetest voice ever to cross Circle’s stage and only second in power to Larry Young’s lead as Sweeney in that Grand Award-winning production. (It was so good, I had to see it twice.)
The beauty of this production is that it is in the much smaller, and thus more intimate, annex performance space and will feature actors Kitty Carrico Carpenter, Lindsey Hansen, Dylan Harris, Ruth Ann Molenaar, Don Vanden Heuvel and Kyle VanDyke in these memorable roles.
When this play opened in New York, New York Magazine raved that "Silver's in top form…as comedy about death, The Lyons isn't trying to make a case for freshness or formal innovation. It's simply trying tell a funny, furious little tale of family annihilation with honesty, savagery, and humanity, a story about how we all, ultimately, pick out our own urns. It succeeds marvelously."
Theatre in all sizes is a good thing but when you get the chance to be entertained in such an intimate space with material this good, you simply cannot afford to miss the opportunity to be so close you can touch the performers. Purchase tickets for The Lyons in advance since the theatre only holds approximately 30 seats.
Admission: $17 non-members, $15 season ticket holders.
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