An uncommonly strong theater season continues with the current range of plays. Interestingly, three of these diverse productions bear echoes of Buffalo’s history as a city divided between management and labor. Subversive Theatre Collective’s revival of Emanuel Fried’s Drop Hammer chronicles efforts to undermine union activity at a Buffalo factor in the late 1950s. Jewish Repertory Theatre of WNY’s production of Clifford Odet’s Awake and Sing watches the Berger family struggle to get by during the Great Depression, as working people alternately struggle against and aspire to become members of the class that oppresses them. Even the American Repertory Theatre of WNY production of the daft 1930s Kaufman and Hart comedy, The Man Who Came to Dinner includes a subplot of a middle-class girl who wants to defy her parents by running off with a union agitator.

I conclude from this coincidence of theme that Buffalo’s theaters reflect passions and concerns that run deep in our city, especially at a time when the clouds of an ailing economy loom even more ominously than usual. We are a town that understands what it means to be a paycheck away from a crisis, and that holds on to the pretensions of middle-class ideals tightly.

THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER

The Man Who Came to Dinner is set in a mythical Midwestern town not unlike Buffalo. (Some argue that East meets Midwest here.) The Stanley family is turned upside down when a nationally celebrated radio personality, Sheridan Whiteside, falls on the ice outside their house and is confined to their home for the Christmas holiday. While a litany of celebrities (based on real-life personalities of the 1930s, from Noel Coward to Harpo Marx) parade through the Stanley residence, Whiteside’s supremely competent secretary, Maggie Cutler, finds love in the editor of the local newspaper. Impossibly pompous and tyrannical Whiteside schemes to prevent her from leaving him.

With its theme that happiness is not to be found in fame and wealth, but in the simple things, The Man Who Came to Dinner, appeals to the vanity of every town in America that is not New York. Little Mesalia, Ohio is visited by the great and the glamorous, but given a choice, practical Maggie elects to stay in the quiet and humble town.

The play requires a large cast and breakneck pace. Under the direction of Jeanne Cairns, American Rep has produced a surprisingly smart and satisfying production.

Christopher Standart is perfectly cast and divinely hilarious as devious Sheridan Whiteside. His confident and deft comic performance as a man we love to loathe provides an anchor for this production.

Kelly Ferguson Moore is similarly marvelous as level-headed and unflappable Maggie. A practical girl, as comfortable with a small-town reporter as she is with Mahatma Ghandi or Noel Coward, her portrayal is lovable, affecting, and consummately convincing. We totally believe that she is the one person in the world who can melt self-centered Whiteside’s heart.

The play is chockablock full of delightful character roles and these have been filled with an abundance of talent.

Kathleen Betsko-Yale is wonderful as Mrs. Stanley, whose giddy delight at having a celebrity in the house is quickly worn down to beleaguered angst under the weight of his preposterous tyranny. Ronald J. Leonardi provides charming puff and bluster as Mr. Stanley, a man who is not destined to be the king of his own castle.

Lisa Ludwig is flawlessly over-the-top as glamorous man-trap, Lorraine Sheldon, the Broadway diva brought to Mesalia to bust things up between Maggie and her beau. Jeffery Coyle is charming as that beau, Bert Jefferson. Jon Kaczorowski provides zany glee as Harpo Marx knock-off, Banjo; and Doug Crane offers sterling English sophistication and mischievousness as Noel Coward clone Beverley Carlton. Darleen Pickering Hummert is otherworldly and perfect as Harriet Stanley. Jennifer Fitzery effectively slides into emotional breakdown as harried Nurse Preen.

It’s a big cast, which American Rep has trimmed from the original 30 down to 18 with some judicious cuts and doubling. Some of the original topical references have been altered (never to particular advantage). Some slipshod dramaturgy and pronunciation can be forgiven in view of the tremendous success of mounting this expansive and entirely enjoyable comedy. In addition to those mentioned, Tim Voit and Alaina Miller are appealing as the Stanley children; as are Daniel Greer and Lisa DelVecchio as the game Stanley family servants. Joy Scime, Jim Maloy, Ian Cap, and J.R. Finan also excel as a variety of characters.

AWAKE AND SING

The Jewish Repertory Theatre of WNY production of Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing is achingly beautiful. This is one of the plays that defined American ensemble acting when the Group Theatre originally staged it in 1935 under the direction of Harold Clurman with Stella Adler as Bessie, Luther Adler as Moe Axelrod, John Garfield as Ralphie, and Sanford Meisner as Sam Feinschreiber—each a legend of the American Theatre. For this occasion, Jewish Rep has assembled a consummately fine ensemble of its own, under the direction of Greg Natale.

Ellen Horst gives a powerful and compelling performance as Bessie Berger, playing her as a woman whose keen intellect and cunning powers of observation cannot save her from her wanton insensitivity to the needs of others. She is simultaneously a monster and a frightened child whose imperfect decisions provoke the very crises she has sought to avoid.

Susan Drozd steps up to the plate with her beautifully nuanced portrayal of Hennie, a young woman whose efforts to escape the confines of her life, lead to ever greater confinement.

Youthful Patrick Cameron gives a winning performance as passionate and idealistic Ralph, and serves as a perfect comrade to veteran Saul Elkin, who is at his finest playing Jacob.

Peter Jaskowiak is convincing as kind-hearted but ineffectual Myron. Don Gervasi gives a fine performance as pragmatic Moe Axelrod. Tom Zindle elevates being a jerk to an art as selfish Uncle Morty. David Butler is touching as Sam Feinschreiber.

The production, with a set by Ron Schwartz, makes effective use of the circular Andrews Theatre space, while presenting a very traditional rendering of a classic American play.

DROP HAMMER

The most successful productions of Manny Fried’s Drop Hammer are those buoyed by a sense of genuine commitment. I remember, vividly, a production performed by labor union members in the back room at Nietzsche’s pub, several years ago. The current Subversive Theatre Collective production captures a great deal of that spirit of urgency with a commanding rendition of this tale of conflict in a Buffalo factory, 50 years ago.

In Drop Hammer, the interference of FBI agents and the threat of exporting jobs from Buffalo to plant in Kentucky is used to wedge working man against working man. In his notes for the program, Fried, who is now 95 years old, notes that battles lost years ago continue to echo in economic problems today.

Kurt Schneiderman has directed members of his politically committed company at the Manny Fried Playhouse with a cast featuring Tim Eimiller as protagonist Dave Sigmund, a union organizer who has misplaced his trust. Victor Morales and David A. Hoffman spar as competitors for the status of antagonist in a crisis even an accountant can’t unravel with certainty. Jack Agugliaro is excellent as the weary accountant with an ulcer, who can see where the money has gone, but knows he cannot account for human motivation with certainty. Leon S. Copeland, Jr. gives an appealingly humorous performance as the owner of the bar where the action unfolds.

The Subversive Theatre production is appealing, and its combination of professional and less experienced actors lend Drop Hammer the perfect tone of communal testimony. Many of Fried’s plays have been published, but it would be wonderful to see an anthology of plays by local writers, including Fried’s Drop Hammer or The Dodo Bird, to tell the world of a theater community that speaks with an urgency and a vitality that few other cities can claim.