Theater Review

Tom Titus

What’s the worst thing that can happen to a control freak?

Obviously, it would be when his life is veering out of control, when

his well-ordered existence is going over the cliff with no one at the

wheel.

This is what playwright Tom Donaghy examines through a somewhat

fractured lens in his new comedy, “The Beginning of August,” now enjoying

its world premiere on the Second Stage of South Coast Repertory.

And, like the protagonist’s life, it bounces around the stage with

reckless abandon.

Donaghy relishes in unraveling the well-manicured lives of his

characters, steering them into unchartered waters. “The Beginning of

August” centers on Jackie, a conservative businessman who recently lost

his father and whose wife Pam has just vanished, leaving him with an

infant daughter to care for as best he can.

To fill the gap, Jackie calls on Joyce, his stepmother, to play nanny

while he’s at work, but he’s so insufferably anal he draws up a long list

of dos and don’ts that gives the old gal little elbow room. Complicating

Jackie’s life even further are the two handyman-types who traipse in and

out of his backyard -- both with decidedly personal agendas.

Then there’s the errant Pam, who’s been taking a sabbatical just a few

doors down the street. Returning in the second act, she’s willing to

resume the marriage, but “I don’t want to be the mother.” These are

quirky and decidedly off-center characters who mesh with some degree of

difficulty.

As staged with careful attention to detail by Neil Pepe, “The

Beginning of August” often startles with its plot twists seemingly out of

left field. Contrasting characters, of course, are the ingredients for

interesting theater, and this bunch is a particularly disparate lot.

Geoffrey Nauffts enacts the abandoned Jackie as if rehearsing for a

nervous breakdown yet striving to avoid it. His sense of order would make

Felix Ungar appear like Oscar Madison by comparison. One doesn’t have to

stretch to imagine why his wife would opt for a little breather.

As his stepmother, emotionally adrift after his father’s death,

Barbara Tarbuck contributes the play’s most fully realized performance.

Tarbuck paints a thoroughly detailed picture of a mature woman desperate

for human contact, even that of an infant.

The cloddish painter Ben, a fine comic portrayal by Todd Lowe,

represents one of the numerous speed bumps on Jackie’s road to normalcy.

Lowe’s character makes no bones about his crush on the missing Pam, and

renders such a prospect ludicrous by his juvenile behavior.

The neighbor, Ted, who manicures Jackie’s lawn, also is quite more

complicated than his surface persona, and Jeff Allin plays him with

startling sincerity.

Finally, Mary B. McCann radiates childlike innocence as the loving but

confused wife, Pam.

There is a sixth character, a nosy neighbor lady, who’s unseen but

whose hands are glimpsed passing goodies over the fence, and whom Tarbuck

shoos away occasionally. This device is another of Donaghy’s efforts to

tweak the audience, and it’s an effective one.

Scott Pask’s backyard setting is striking, with a slender sliver

representing the house, leaving the balance of the backdrop bare beyond

the fence. The presence of sprinklers on the lawn lets the playgoers know

that, eventually, they’ll make their presence felt also.

“The Beginning of August” is a decidedly different stripe of comedy,

one that goes against the grain of traditional theater with its

characters battling fervently against stereotype. For its audiences, it’s

an attitude adjustment.

CUTLINE: Geoffrey Nauffts instructs Barbara Tarbuck in the care of his

infant daughter in “The Beginning of August” on the Second Stage of South

Coast Repertory.

WHAT: “The Beginning of August”

WHERE: South Coast Repertory’s Second Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa

Mesa

WHEN: 7:45 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 7:45 p.m. Saturdays and

Sundays through May 28

HOW MUCH: $18-$45

PHONE: (714) 708-5555