Buicks

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

Either David Harms has been a car dealer or as the defining actor he is, he did some hard studying for his homework. He nails Bill Abilene to the wall in Paragon’s production of Julian Sheppard’s play, Buicks. Buicks received two 2003 Obie Award nominations. No surprise here. Extraordinarily well-written with crisp, direct lines, and well-defined characters that explode with rhyme, reason and purpose. Known for their high-quality productions, Paragon Theatre Company does not disappoint. Buicks only raises the bar of expectation one more notch.

Leah Keith who plays Naranja and David Harms who plays Bill Abilene in Paragon Theatre Company’s production of Buicks.

Directed by Wendy Franz, Buicks delves headfirst into the heart and soul of Bill Abilene. This man has it made. Living in Fresno, California he owns a Buick Dealership he bought from his father, Gerald (Ken Witt). Bill lives in the suburbs with his charming wife, Kathy (Barbara Andrews) and his two children. He knows the right buttons to push to turn hesitant car buyers into signing on the dotted line. This is demonstrated right off the bat with Dick, uncertain as he is, he falls hook, line, and sinker for Bill’s sugarcoated pep talk. Jarrad Holbrook not only plays Dick, but also takes on Tim, Man-on-porch, Larry and Randall. Unless you know before hand, the five characters advertise five different actors. Holbrook switches masks with ease.

Doing what he thought he was suppose to do throughout life, Bill never stopped to explore who he was, what he wanted, or that there was more to relationships than spewing motivational cliché’s.

Dinner at home with his wife, Kathy, tells the whole story. Proud of her children, Kathy wears the mask of loneliness and neglect. Andrews magnificently provides the tired, disgusted, weary, resentful Kathy even though Bill can’t see that far across the table with perception.

Reluctantly, and out of duty, Bill visits his father, confined to a wheelchair living in a nursing home; he had a passion for the car dealership. With a sharp caustic mind, Gerald won’t let Bill forget for one second. Witt’s performance is simply outstanding. The competition between the two keeps Bill as uptight as an e-string on a violin. Gerald wants to know why Bill only “wants to do stuff, you’ll only lose at?” Bill doesn’t hear the probe, slamming back “only funny people should tell jokes.”

Making her Denver stage debut, Leah Keith plays Naranja; Bill’s receptionist, a 22-year-old Mexican immigrant who wants Bill to sponsor her so can get her Green Card. Sponsoring her means a commitment for Bill, something he isn’t use to giving. Keith has opportunity to demonstrate her talent as she takes Naranjo from soft kitten-on-the-keys wary personality to a Mozart concerto powerhouse. When Bill discovers Kathy has left him a “Dear John” letter and disappeared with the kids, devastation rocks his boat.

Convinced Kathy has headed for Albuquerque where her parents live, he is determined to find her and bring her home where she belongs. Against her better judgment, Naranja agrees to go with him when he promises to help with the Green Card.

Slowly, steadily the journey begins as Bill runs headfirst into roadblocks leaving him only one direction to plunge, into himself, an area he never knew there was a door to go through, much less the area existed. Harms handles this journey with controlled expertise as he peels the rose colored cataracts from his superficial eyes. At the same time, Keith’s artistic ability reveals Naranja slipping from a hesitant wallflower to a strong confident person she has kept hidden. She wants to be a salesman; having studied the dealership and the people she works with defining detail. The atmosphere sizzles with discovery, and this cast carries its soul in the palm of their hands.

Being an on the road play with action in Fresno, Albuquerque and points in between, Ann Bartek designed the sparse set that moves easily and quickly. Colorful flats in abstract colors becoming whatever one wants them to be differentiate the scenes: sunset, sunrise, desert, but they speak to spaces, discovery and melding. In a not so far fetched way, the colorful flats delicately paint the story of mythological expansion.

To miss this production is to miss a feast for the heart, the senses, the eyes, and the soul.