The digital magazine of New York indie theater
Loading

Thick

nytheatre.com review by Robin Reed
August 15, 2005

I turned the corner and saw a mob outside Collective: Unconscious that made me wonder if I hadn’t gotten the address wrong. I double-checked my FringeNYC Guide and I was indeed headed in the right direction. When I got to the line, the prospective audience was divided into two camps, ticket-holders and ticket-hopefuls. As the clock in front of the TriBeCa Grand Hotel made its way toward 8:30, the crowd began to get a little unruly. The ticket-holders line was increasing, making the ticket hopefuls less hopeful and more agitated.By the time I got into the theatre, the stress of those around me outside had rubbed off a bit and I was, um, anxious for Thick to get started.I looked at the stage and saw the most charming little backdrop: a cartoon-y marker drawing of a town center hung upstage on a simple white fabric. Downstage sat what I assumed to be a model-home in the marker town, a little black and white foam-core house (there is no set designer listed in the program, but whoever you are, nice work!). It was here where the story would be set, and that made me very happy.Enter: Rudolph. Another check in the happy column.Rudolph’s Mama dropped him on his head when he was a wee tot. This made him “thick.” The kids at school call him “Rudolph the Red-Haired Moron” which, surprisingly, he thoroughly enjoys. He says that he loves Christmas and his favorite part is that Santa needed help one night and it was Rudolph (the reindeer) and his very different red nose that lit the way through the darkness. He also tells us that he doesn’t read the newspapers because he “can see the good in everything, even tragedy”Sheesh, I wish I had that one in my pocket as I waited in the line outside.The play presents an odd chain of events in a day-in-the-life story, but it’s wholly engaging. Beneath a very simple veneer, the story is unexpectedly dark and very moving.Rudolph’s father’s obsession with lawn care (Dad first comes onstage tending to the tiny lawn which he places in front of the tiny house) led to his untimely demise, which led to his mama taking comfort in “non-alcoholic gin” (she says it’s taken out by a little machine, to which estranged sister Louise bites back “yeah, a machine called mama!") and, after a long grieving period, her born-again Christianity. They are a troubled family, but Rudolph loves them and his place among them just the same. He is a boy who is excited to be alive! Mama wonders how smart he might have been had she not dropped him.Playwright Rick Bland plays Rudolph with the sweetest sincerity. Wide-eyed and earnest, he blurts out his incredibly logically but seemingly random trains of thought with such honesty that you can’t help but find yourself a cheerleader for Rudolph and his unwavering bright side. The dexterous team of Tamara Bick and Ross Mullan who, together, play everyone from Rudy’s parents to Pope John Paul II join him to bring life to the delightful little marker town. They clearly have a lot of fun together on stage, and that fun permeates out to the audience. Rudolph’s good cheer is indeed infectious.