Through July 26: The Midnight Company Presents the World Premier of "Pride and Joy"
Colin McLaughlin's new play is a funny dysfunctional family comedy
Midnight Company, in collaboration with playwright Colin McLaughlin, is staging the World Premiere of McLaughlin’s new play Pride and Joy. The comedic family drama eavesdrops on an intervention staged by the family’s youngest daughter Sam. But which member of the Moran family is Sam’s target for the intervention and why has she pulled the family together?
McLaughlin’s play opens as Sam’s parents and her two older siblings attempt to get into her locked apartment. The clatter in the unseen hallway foreshadows the Moran family’s personalities and their communication style. Each is a bit self-consumed with their own baggage and agendas. They constantly interrupt and talk over one another.
Sam’s father is a ‘functioning’ alcoholic. Her mother, co-dependent and controlling. Her brother is a sarcastic 20-something looking for his next Grindr hook-up, and her sister is an aloof and oblivious pot smoker. She has invited her entire family over to announce her newly found sobriety and ask for their support, but the family takes over hilariously spilling their own confessions and truths.
McLaughlin’s funny script is ripe with the type of organic banter that reminds you of an Amy Sherman-Palladino TV series (The Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel). The family’s witty conversation tackles topics seen on - what was considered - the edgy sitcoms of the 1970s. Shows like Norman Lear’s Maude and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, or Suan Harris’ SOAP that were considered progressive for their time. Pride and Joy is a bit of both, sitcoms of old and the more recent dialogue driven comedy-drama series.
Director Carl Overly Jr. welcomes his audience with a sound bed of memorable sitcom title themes. The familiar music from Taxi, The Jeffersons, and Full House play in the background to create a vibe of lighthearted comedy and to disarm the audience from the start.
His intimate staging puts the audience directly on top of Sam’s tiny studio apartment. The cramped set, expertly designed by the multi-talented Chuck Winning, supports Overly’s tight blocking, calculated pacing, and deliberate timing.
Overly cast five of the area's most expressive and comedically gifted actors as the sparring Moran family. Lavonne Byers (Mom), Joe Hanrahan (Dad), Jayson Heil (Jay), Sarah Lantsberger (Sam), and Alicen Kramer-Moser (Maggie) execute McLaughlin’s snarky chatter with conversational spontaneity while spilling their family tea.
The five well-rehearsed thespians deliberately trip over one another physically and verbally as the idiosyncratic Moran family. The ensemble’s animated reactions to one another carry dynamic authenticity. They elicit laughter with smirks, eyerolls, knowing glances, one-word quips, and zestful comedic timing.
Overly gives his actors license to develop and build McLaughlin’s new characters. Byers, Hanrahan, Heil, Lantsberger, and Moser define relatable characters who are perhaps a bit too familiar. They lay their character’s burdens bare causing amusing and discomforting laughter from awkward recognition of oneself and one’s own family members.
McLaughlin and Overly’s audience are unwelcome intruders listening in on a family’s raw, unfiltered, and private conversations. Pride and Joy is very funny. The Moran Family, as portrayed by the talented ensemble, is a bit of a trainwreck. Overly’s crisp pacing and sharp direction milks the script for maximal laughs and just the right amount of drama.
The Midnight Company and Colin McLaughlin’s world-premiere production of Pride and Joy continues at The Chapel through July 26th. Visit midnight company.com for more information.