Red Tape takes a fresh route through family(ar) ground

The story in Red Tape is so familiar, you wonder if the playwright was looking through your family scrapbooks,

The thing about local theater is  . . . it can be so personal. Especially in a small town.

So, as a writer and reviewer in a small town, it’s sometimes necessary to say to a producer or director about why you haven’t written a thing after seeing their show, “Geez. I just ran out of time.” All because of your mother’s admonition, “If you can’t say something good, don’t say anything at all.”

I don’t have this problem with Red Tape, the current effort of writer/producer Teresa Pesce and veteran Sandpoint director Deb McShane on stage at the Panida (January 15, 16, 22 and 23 – 7:30 doors — $12 adults). Dress rehearsal on Thursday the 14^th provided a great, semi-private viewing of a solidly good play. And I mean good. It’s not Tennessee Williams, but when you go you’re not going to fall asleep or wish you were somewhere else  — except maybe during an excruciatingly uncomfortable fight scene between a son trying to break free of his “red tape” and his mother, unable to express her love except by trying to be in control of every situation.

Inspired by the epic and very personal art of Stephen Schultz (a “small” canvas for Schultz is 4 feet square), Red Tape explores the growing relationship between Lilly (Greta Weber) and Peter (Zachary Sabbah) and its eventual attempted sabotage by Peter’s control-addict mother Marilyn (Dawnya Clarine). Besides the downright acrimony of Peter’s mom, the romance between the two suffers the slings and arrows of their honesty-advocate counselor (Suzan Fiskan), his rowdy, beer-soaked friends (Eric Bond and Andrew Sorg) and her wise and wine-toting, chocolate-pushing friend (Kate McAllister); as well as the well-meaning, misplaced, hilarious and completely practical — in his world — advice of Peter’s father (Timothy Earle).

The physical bookends of the drama at center stage are an older Peter (Caspar Reitz) on the right, who seems to moderate the action more than narrate, and pianist Alan Ball on the left, providing a compelling, spontaneous soundtrack to the acts.

Peter-in-retrospect is an interested observer who explains his theory of the “red tape” we are all bound up in and even gives the key to getting rid of it, and admits that even years after the events presented, he is not completely free of the bindings — and, for him, that’s OK.

The story in Red Tape is so familiar, you wonder if the playwright was looking through your family scrapbooks, and yet so well told that you might learn something. The dialogue is funny and quick — not only do you have to pay attention, you want to. The actors all do great work, so I almost hate to single one out, but Clarine, in her portrayal of a woman who could be Mrs. Robinson’s sister, is outstanding. If you recognize her as someone you know early on, be prepared to understand her (and your acquaintance) a lot better by the end.

Red Tape. I’d go and see it again.