"The Water Engine" @ Richard Hugo House
David Mamet must be pretty damn good, because the Strawberry Theatre Workshop is reviving a play of his that's so obscure, it doesn't even have a Wiki page, and yet the thing is fantastic.
Like all Mamets, The Water Engine runs on dialogue--put Keanu Reeves and Scarlett Johansson in the thing, and it would be unwatchable. Luckily, the Strawberry folks got Gabriel Baron to play protagonist Lang, a nebbish who's invented an engine that runs...on water. He's struggling to patent this valuable invention before unseen (or are they seen?) forces steal it. This provides considerable drama.
In the hands of a crummy actor, Lang could come off as an ineffectual dork, and the play would be shit. But Baron nails it, giving everyman Lang just the right amount of spine. There's no Coffee's For Closers moment in The Water Engine, but there's a confrontation between Lang and two shady patent lawyers that's raw and convincing and worth the price of admission alone.
As to theme, it's that ever-giving fount, the meaning of the American dream. Seems like our best plays are about this--The Iceman Cometh, Death of a Salesman. Here the question seems to be: dreams/ideas--who do they belong to?
The whole thing is staged, sort of, like a radio play, with sound effects and the like, but the radio is also part of the show--aw hell, we're making no sense. The point is, there's a unique narrative structure. And it works. You'll just have to see it for yourself. You should. Recommended!
The Water Engine
Strawberry Theater Workshop @ Richard Hugo House
Thurs-Sat, through April 21
Tickets: $20
photo by Erik Stuhaug
