‘Double Play’

George Street Playhouse stages two one-acters, ‘The 75th’ and ‘The Vibrator.’

By: Stuart Duncan
   One-act plays have always been the stepchildren of theater. Opera may be able to package "Cav and Pag" (Mascagni’s Cavalleri Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci), and a few generations back one could see two or three Noël Coward short pieces together with some comfort under the umbrella title Tonight at 8:30. A few risk-taking theaters these days might stage a zany Christopher Durang one-acter with something, perhaps, by David Ives.
   But these are very much the exception. For the most part, theatergoers shy away from anything less than a full effort by a single playwright. So the latest offering at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick is both courageous and risky. Under the title Double Play, director David Saint is staging The 75th by Israel Horovitz and a companion piece, commissioned especially as such, The Vibrator by Arthur Laurents.
   The first of these is a gentle little comedy that tells the bittersweet story of a 75th high school reunion where the last two remaining alumni, a boy and a girl, both now in their 90s, meet and find they have no memories of each other. The second, as the title might indeed suggest, is a slightly naughty tale of a couple from New Jersey, retired to South Florida, who find they may not be ready to give up what they remember as the pleasures of the North.
   Now, however, the problem of matching two pieces of a puzzle becomes evident. The Horovitz comedy is not only funny, but it has great truths and heart; the Laurents work is blatant and lacks the flashes of recognition an audience demands.
   The same two actors play in both, and their performances might be enough to carry the evening. Elizabeth Wilson and Tom Aldredge are Broadway actors with almost a century between them. They have that polished understanding of what a comedy needs to succeed and both work very hard to bring it to the stage. Ms. Wilson dips deep inside the characters to find little mannerisms — a careless brushing of imaginary crumbs from a table or a dismissive wave of frustration at a past hurt. Mr. Aldredge allows his face to give away emotions, just seconds before a line of dialogue confirms them. Watching them apart and together is a joy seldom offered.
   But the playwrights allow them only so much leeway to look into shaded corners. Mr. Horovitz has the pair dance an awkward few moments and the stage becomes excitingly alive. Mr. Laurents sticks pretty closely to sitcom — and a trifle raunchy one at that. His title gives away any denouement.
   This is one time the performers should insist on their names above the titles.
Double Play: The 75th and The Vibrator continues at George Street Playhouse, 9 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, through Feb. 9. Performances: Tues.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m.; Feb. 1, 8, 2 p.m. Tickets cost $26-$50. For information, call (732) 246-7717. On the Web: www.georgestplayhouse.org