GSC's 'Garbologists' Strikes Gold in the Daily Grind
The Garbologists, Gloucester Stage Company, through July 29. 978-281-4433 or gloucesterstage.com
Are sanitation workers modern day archaeologists? Think of the famous idiom that "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Many audience members at Gloucester Stage Company's veritable trove of a regional premiere of "The Garbologists" by Lindsay Joelle ("Trayf") are likely to take this insight seriously. Moreover, artistic director Rebecca Bradshaw's smartly you-are-there staging should make Joelle's affecting and informative play a delightful eighty minute dig.
In making the GSC production a real experience, scenic designer Kristin Loeffler has placed bags of refuse not only onstage but also at the edges of the audience. Adding to the authenticity, Costume designer Jen Greeke has production stage manager Marsha Smith and assistant stage manager Colby Hairston dressed in sanitation worker uniforms that match those of Paul Melendy as veteran garbage collector Danny and Thomika Marie Bridwell as newbie Marlowe. Smith and Colby rate kudos for their smooth movement of the two-part garbage truck — the front where the workers sometimes sit and the back where the bags are actually collected.
Do not be fooled. "The Garbologists" is much more than a visually and verbally precise look at the title pair's profession. Danny and Marlowe dig into each other's back story, goals and points of view as much as the intricacies of their work. Initially the two characters could not be more different. Danny reads a Staten Island newspaper while Marlowe reads the New York Times. Danny speaks of each garbage truck having its own personality while Marlowe, a summa cum laude graduate of Columbia University, who studied art history, is prepared to rely on her knowledge and self-confidence. Danny vents about his wife Tiffany's brief restraining order and his difficulty spending time with his son. Marlowe eventually reveals that her son died of cancer at the age of four.
Playwright Joelle is astute enough to make her characters complex and never stereotypical. Danny may call Marlowe "a Shakespeare on my route," but he surprises her by speaking of the fiction of significant African American writer Zadie Smith. For her part, Marlowe turns out to favor the New York Rangers — Danny's favorite hockey team. Marlowe may act as though she does not really want to be Danny's partner, but the two sanitation workers ultimately realize that they have a lot in common as human beings struggling with personal challenges as well as the demands of their jobs.
Melendy and Bridwell skillfully capture both the conflicts and the growing understanding between their characters. Melendy has all of Danny's authority as he advises Marlowe about how to judge the content of the garbage bags (especially avoiding dangerous items), lifting only one bag at a time to avoid backaches and learning about a person "from what they throw away." The comically gifted actor makes the most of a moment when Danny invites Marlowe to look at the dildos in a box put out for collection. Bridwell catches Marlowe's inner strength volleying responses to sharp comments from Danny and her vulnerability as she speaks about her late son. Theatergoers should find a surprise revelation near the end, tying the characters together properly.
Marlowe introduces the title word for sanitation workers. After seeing Joelle's disarming play, audience members may agree that 'garbologists' are refuse scientists. On the strength of GSC's beautifully bagged premiere, theatergoers should find the invitation at the end of "The Garbologists" to "share some trash" exhilaratingly understandable.