14th Play - Pocatello by Samuel D. Hunter

Okay, here I’m going to cheat a little bit. I did read this play in July. However, I confess that I have read it before. And, I was asked to read in a Zoom reading, so, I skimmed the play in preparation and read it (and listened!) while the reading was going on. Rules are made to be broken, people. Also, life gets busy sometimes. ;)

Summary: “Home doesn’t feel like home anymore for Eddie, an Italian chain restaurant manager who is losing connections with his co-workers and his family. Set in the harsh backdrop of Pocatello, Idaho – a small, unexceptional American city – Samuel D. Hunter’s heartbreaking comedy is a cry and the struggle we face to create an authentic experience – to forge true community – in a place that is being transformed into the endless artificiality of Walmarts, Applebees and strip malls.” From Griffin Theatre Company website.

Laura’s thoughts in brief: As I mentioned, I had read this play before. A few years ago, I had a student want to do a monologue from it, so I read the play in order to coach her on it. First thoughts on reading then? Meh. I didn’t dislike it, but wasn’t blown away by it. It felt sort of ordinary to me. Second read (this time!) was different. Now, I will acknowledge that HEARING the play (and sort of seeing it - Zoom, ya know) gave it an advantage. But even when I skimmed it for my character’s sections, I was finding more to it than I had before. I think this play’s gift (and one of its challenges) is its ordinariness. Challenges, in that the ordinariness keeps it from jumping off the page (and stage, really, NY reviews were not very positive). Gift, in that it’s very relatable. We’ve ALL been in that Olive Garden (even though they don’t call it that, but … we know); we’ve all been in dysfunctional family moments; we’ve all driven through towns (even Chicago, dammit) that were no longer unique, but filled with chain stores. Many of us “escaped” from our hometowns, and many of us stayed because that was home. Depending on who you are, there are moments you can relate to. Ironically, I couldn’t read all the full reviews from the Chicago Griffin Theatre production, but they were mostly Highly Recommended all around. Which surprises me less - Chicago may be a big city, but it’s the midwest, and there’s something we understand about Home (L. Frank Baum penned part of the Wizard of Oz in Chicago, according to some (https://www.chicagobusiness.com/residential-real-estate/yellow-brick-road-honors-oz-author-site-his-home). Chicago is more “ordinary” than New York. The whole play takes place in the restaurant. The opening scene of the play has two tables (which are two different families - FAMILIGIA week! - truly a terrible idea of Eddie’s) all talking at the same time. Reading it is tough to follow. Even listening to it was a little challenging. I think it comes across better onstage. The NY reviews that criticized the rest of the play said this moment had the energy and electricity that the rest of the play was missing. One of them noted that you didn’t understand everything, but you really got the sense of what was going on. There are ten characters in the play, and although some of them are more featured than others, it’s really a nice ensemble show, with Eddie as the main character. It’s his journey, although sometimes he just sits back and listens. Each of the characters is recognizable, but unique. I think Hunter has done a nice job at allowing each of them to have their own personality. The ones that stood out the most to me were Isabelle, the orphaned waitress who lost her parents at age 13, and Becky, the 17 year old who always throws up her food. She’s not bulimic, but she just can’t stand where it comes from (grown, prepared, etc.). Her lectures on the problems of the processed food we eat, not just the meat, but vegetables too, kind of make me want to throw up also. But she’s smart and funny. Isabelle’s quips keep us entertained as everything else in the play starts to crumble. And she manages to stay optimistic as everyone else spirals. “I just think, like, we all have to go through a period in our lives where we think everything is shit After that everything else feels a little better.” When Tammy, waiter Troy’s wife and Becky’s alcoholic mom, says, “I’m just - so fucking miserable,” Isabelle responds, “Fuck yeah! … You see? Now there’s nowhere to go but up!” Eddie’s lament on not recognizing his home town due to all of the chains really hit me strongly. Even in Chicago you can go to Target and Macy’s downtown. Yay? The strip mall-itization of America. Sigh. What is harder to understand is why Eddie, who is revealed to be gay (pretty early on, not a big spoiler), wants to hang around this small town in Idaho he barely recognizes and finds it impossible to even find someone to date. I’m a person who left home for a big city (and never went back), so maybe that’s just my perspective. But Hunter draws such an unattractive picture of the town of Pocatello that I literally want to invite poor Eddie to come live in Chicago with me. That being said, if you are someone that stayed home (or went back home), this might ring truer to you. And in today’s political climate, with there being such a terrible divide between cities and more rural areas, we need supportive, openminded and “sensitive” (only in quotes because his mom uses it as an insult to him, as many people did to me growing up) people like Eddie in those rural areas, although it’s getting harder for people like him to do that, as politicians in many of those states outlaw books and bodies. This sad but funny play did well in Chicago, and it will do well in smaller towns. I think it is too ordinary for NYC, but sometimes we like to see relatable family drama onstage. At least it’s set in a restaurant, not a living room! I would love to see a production of this and even be an actor in it. There’s a really strong sense of ensemble and I think it would be fun to play!

READ MORE! Here’s what others had to say about productions:

https://www.theatreinchicago.com/pocatello/7957/ Note: The links on this page aren’t working (too long ago?) but you get a really good snip of each of the Chicago reviews and you can see how well-received this production was.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/16/theater/samuel-d-hunters-pocatello-with-t-r-knight.html

https://newyorktheater.me/2014/12/16/pocatello-review-10-unhappy-people-in-a-dying-diner-in-a-dead-end-town/

https://variety.com/2014/legit/reviews/off-broadway-review-pocatello-starring-t-r-knight-1201379952/