Theater Review -- Tom Titus

The funniest gag in South Coast Repertory’s West Coast premiere of

“Lobby Hero,” is the title itself. The central character in playwright

Kenneth Lonergan’s examination of urban life on the night shift is

anything but heroic.

Jeff, the security guard on the graveyard watch at a Manhattan

apartment building, is a well-meaning nebbish who can’t seem to do

anything right. In fact, he turns indecision into an art form. And when

he does commit himself in one direction or the other, it proves to be an

unfortunate choice.

Lonergan has created four very interesting characters (if you count

Jeff, which you may not), and director Olivia Honegger gives them ample

opportunity to assert themselves to the audience. The problem with “Lobby

Hero,” however, lies in the circuitous routes each travel en route to an

inconsequential climax.

This provocative character study cries out for some judicious

tightening. Excised by about a half-hour, “Lobby Hero” would be a crisp,

vital piece. As it stands, the play achieves a number of peaks but spends

far too much time in the valleys of vacillation.

At issue are several moral choices, faced by Jeff (Kevin Corrigan),

his boss (T.E. Russell), a hardened police officer (Simon Billig) and his

rookie partner (Tessa Auberjonois). All seem to fall into the “damned if

you do, damned if you don’t” category. No matter what decision is made,

someone is going to be hurt.

Of the play’s four actors, Billig makes the deepest impression as a

married cop fooling around with a lady in Corrigan’s apartment building

while his partner -- who’s also involved with the jerk -- cools her heels

in the lobby. Billig skillfully intimidates the others while deftly

covering his own backside in a terrific performance.

As his young partner, with only three months in uniform, Auberjonois

combines jittery apprehension with occasional thrusts of authority into

the character of a woman who often acts before she thinks, usually to her

regret. Of the four cast members, hers is the most authentic “Noo Yawk”

accent, and her tentative friendship with Jeff, which may or may not

deepen, is credibly portrayed.

Russell wears his authority well as the “captain” of the building’s

security force, and conveys his torment as the brother of a suspected

murderer skillfully. His is the most tortuous moral choice -- to concoct

an alibi for that brother when doing so goes against the grain of his

character -- and he presents it believably.

As for Corrigan -- in the skin of a meek character who seldom does but

often is done to -- his wishy-washiness seems forced and uncomfortable.

We keep waiting for him to take a stand and enforce it, but this would be

in contrast to his benign persona, as Lonergan has created it. Corrigan

excels at projecting his lovable loser, but the breakthrough we

anticipate never arrives.

Tony Fanning’s lobby and New York street setting is brilliantly

executed, an expansive backdrop calculated to swallow up its central

character. This authentic setting is splendidly lit by Tammy Owens

Slauson.

“Lobby Hero” offers layers of moral insight and SCR’s production

features some on-target character delineations, but Lonergan’s relaxed

pace of development may cause some restlessness in its audiences. It’s a

two-hour play, which rattles in a two-and-a-half-hour package.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Thursdays and Saturdays.

FYI

* What: “Lobby Hero”

* Where: South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

* When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays,

and 2:30 and 7 p.m. Sundays until March 24

* Cost: $27-$52

* Call: (714) 708-5555