By Janis Hashe
“Backstage drama” is always a reliable genre and its appeal extends to the Sidewalk Theatre Company’s production of The 1938 Gangland Radio Killings. Playwright Bryan Carrigan has for the most part constructed a pleasant period style diversion, complete with hack writers, adulterous wives, and announcers with bigger careers in mind.
It’s 1938, and the hottest radio drama in Cleveland is “Gangland,” featuring the exploits of crime-fighter Rex Dasher. But though listeners are still eagerly tuning in to the conniving of mobster Jake Killings and moll Shelby Winters, there’s trouble in paradise. Station owner John Ashlan wants even more sponsors – and he won’t stop at anything to get them.
Director Elena St. John makes great use of STC’s small space, as characters pop in and out, farce-style, and she’s rewarded with on-the-money, rat-a-tat-tat performances from Brooke Benson as Jenny Ashland/Shelby Winders, the boss’s ambitious daughter who turns out to have a heart of gold; Kris Edlund as Catherine Reed/Marion Jones, who plays Rex’s girl on “Gangland” and is having a fling with him off-air; and Scott Vinci as Stanley Paulson, the announcer/special effects guy who can’t resist improvising. Matthew John Taylor as Rex hits the callow note a little too hard, and James Giordano as Harry Morgan, actor jack-of-all-trades, is impressively versatile when playing his radio gangsters, but lacks period style as Harry. John Schaffer as hapless hack Oswald Keene has nice moments, but also fluctuates in and out of period. Dave Michie does his best with the underwritten role of cuckolded hubby Dwight Reed.
The uncredited black-and-white Deco set is pretty and functional, and the women’s costumes neatly help delineate character. Author Carrigan successfully regales us with frothy intrigue for the entire play-then attempts to turn screwball comedy into drama with the tacked-on-feeling ending, which he should re-think. But old-time-radio fans in particular will absolutely want to pull out the pin stripes or ankle-strap shoes, and sit in on this episode The 1938 Gangland Killings. See Guide for Listing. |