Ben  Curtis, Kathleen Huber, Julie Campbell, and Jacques Mitchell     (© Russ Rowland)

 

 

 

                                                                     by Deirdre Donovan

 

Plays about gun shootings seem to be the rage on New York stages nowadays.  Moss Dewey becomes the latest playwright to try his hand with this hot-button topic in his Crusade of Connor Stephens. Directed by Moss, it made its world premiere at the 17th Annual Midtown International Theatre Festival in Manhattan.

 

Set in Texas, the play is about a gay couple, Kris (Alec Shaw) and Jim (Ben Curtis) who suffer the loss of their young adopted daughter Tessie to gun violence. Their daughter was gunned down by a teenaged religious fanatic Connor Stephens, who afterwards committed suicide.  As the couple, along with their family, confront their personal loss, they find themselves in the blinding swirl of the media, who have made Tessie’s death a story of national scope.  The family, though still in grieving, now find themselves as the “poster family” of a national debate over religion, tolerance, and hate crimes.

 

The problem with this play is that the author overplays his artistic hand.  No doubt this Texas family is grieving over the sudden loss of their beloved Tessie.  But isn’t there a way for all the family members not to wear their hearts on their sleeves throughout?  Sincerity is fine.  But when toned down with a little subtlety, it becomes far more convincing. 

 

James Kiberd                   (© Russ Rowland)

 

The acting is mediocre.  James Kiberd (All My Children) leads the cast as the narrow-minded “Big Jim,” the stern-lipped pastor of a Baptist church who’s intolerant and preaches against gays (including his own son Jim).  Kiberd, though a fine actor, can’t infuse this paterfamilias with any genuine pulse.  Kiberd’s “Big Jim” seems more of a caricature of a Southern Baptist preacher than a fully-realized character here.  Katherine Leask, playing opposite Kiberd as his stage wife Marianne, is cartoon-like too as “Big Jim’s” obedient god-fearing wife.  What is in full evidence, however, is both characters’ hypocrisy.  They are arriving at Junior’s home for the first time on the day of the funeral, obviously to be present at the media circus. 

 

Jim (James Kiberd) and Jim Jr. (Ben Curtis) have a tense confrontation as Kris (Alec Shaw), Grandma Vivi'n (Kathleen Huber), and Marianne (Katherine Leask) look on (© Russ Rowland)

 

Alec Shaw and Ben Curtis as the gay couple, Kris and Jim, fare little better with their characters, who are more types than fleshed-out personas.  The rest of the cast--Julie Campbell, George Faya, Kathleen Huber, Jacques Mitchell and James Padric--overact for the most part.

 

The creative team?  It also proves to be rather pedestrian.  James Noone's mundane set, along with Zach Blane's lighting, tries to create the aura of a gay family who’s part of the mainstream American culture.  The conservative-looking furniture and semi-transparent scrims are fine but add little distinction, or Texan flavor, to the goings on.

 

Speaking of goings-on, there’s too much stage business that doesn’t feel organic to the play.  In fact, the continual to-ing and fro-ing of family members on- and offstage, supposedly to check and report on the media happenings outside the front door seems fake.  While there’s nothing wrong with the conceit of the media broadcasting details about Tessie’s imminent funeral that day, as well as that of Connor Stephens’ (on the same day), it’s executed by the actors mechanically.

 

To be fair, The Crusade of Connor Stephens is a play that focuses on a pertinent issue in our American society.  However, Moss fails to create a convincing drama with three-dimensional characters that we can really care about.  His dramatis personae, in general, needs to acquire more psychological depth and sound more like real human beings in order to keep us engaged for two hours.

 

This was the first play that has been staged in the Orbach Theatre since The Fantastiks.  Too bad that it didn’t take off with the same theatrical energy.

 

Open run.

At the Jerry Orbach Theatre, 210 West 50^th Street, Manhattan.

For more information, visit www.thecrusadeofconnorstephens.com or phone 877-250-2929.

Running time:  approximately two hours.