Three years after their time together at a rehab clinic, Ty, a celebrated portrait painter, has trouble capturing the face of Donna on canvas. It's puzzling to him. "I used to capture the quintessence of a person in a single pose, a moment," he muses at the beginning of Vincent J. Cardinal's drama "The Colorado Catechism," which caps the first season for Journeymen Theater, a group recently transplanted to Arlington's Clark Street Playhouse. Ty's problem visualizing Donna mirrors the audience's quandary: We enjoy our time with these people, but are not left with a clear picture of the playwright's message.
That's not the fault of capable actors Cecil Baldwin and Deborah Kirby, who play Ty and Donna, addicts who meet at a Colorado mountain clinic. Ty has undergone an intervention by his New York business associates, who, concerned about their bottom lines, have packed him on a plane, headed for Colorado and rehab. Donna, a teacher, is undergoing treatment for the third time and is about to strike out. If she doesn't clean up this time, she will likely lose custody of her son.
The two "meet cute" (she belts him, knocking him over a bench when he asks if he's found the treatment center) and then form a bond of friendship. Realizing that a romantic relationship is forbidden and could result in expulsion, and perhaps fearing it might be another manifestation of addiction, Donna and Ty sacrifice their budding romance to unresolved effect.
It is impossible to fault Jeff Keenan's understated, sensitive direction. Keenan, who has created a solid but somewhat flamboyant reputation leading such flashy productions as "Naked Boys Singing" and "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told," keeps it low-key, allowing the characters time and space to simply feel, letting changes in intensity evolve naturally and enhance the sense of realism. The laughter comes from that reality, rather than punch lines. Yet it still seems as if Cardinal has chopped off the beginning and the ending of this story, and the middle doesn't satisfy the curiosity about this mismatched pair that his play inspires.
Maybe that's the nature of addiction; there is no beginning or ending, just the now of it. Still, it would be nice to know if this relationship was ultimately helpful to Ty and Donna, or if it sent Donna, in particular, back into the world with a false sense of security and no real recovery, issues Cardinal raises and leaves unanswered. It's not that every story needs a distinct resolution. It's that the playwright has not provided some crucial bits of information to put his story into meaningful context.
That's odd, considering the title of the play. "Catechism," a word familiar to those with Catholic upbringing, is a method of religious instruction reliant on questions and answers. And Cardinal is a bit short on the answers part. Journeymen Theater has a Christian mission "reflecting the freedom of inspired faith in Christ" by considering "the ramifications of personal choice," according to the troupe's Web site. Perhaps the playwright isn't certain if addiction is a choice or just a curse, so the ramifications are left unclear.
None of this is meant to detract from what is a commendable effort. Both actors turn in compelling performances, and their long scenes together are completely absorbing. Kirby exudes weariness, Baldwin is perfectly jaded. These are characters whose problems will likely not disappear even if they conquer their addictions. The actors are aided by Ryann D. Lee's scenic design, a solid but weathered porchlike setting with radiating overhead beams that hint of a merry-go-round. The only production flaw is in Brian Miller's sound design, which has what seem to be traffic sounds oddly juxtaposed against the characters commenting on how quiet the mountain is.
"The Colorado Catechism," performed by Journeymen Theater, continues through May 21 at Clark Street Playhouse, 601 S. Clark St., Arlington. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays and 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with Saturday matinees at 2 p.m. For tickets or information, visithttp://www.journeymentheater.org. For tickets, call 800-494-8497 or visithttp://www.boxofficetickets.com/journeymen.
