Last weekend was a delight for theatre enthusiasts as the McArdle Theatre at the Walker Arts and Humanities Center hosted two performances of the popular Off-Off-Broadway play “When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder?” last Friday and Saturday night. The Obie Award-winning play by Mark Medoff received a great audience each day with a nearly full house occupied by families, Michigan Tech students and even older couples who were on the lookout for an intense theatrical performance. It was fascinating to see the artists perform a piece that premiered in 1974 and has managed to survive the ever-so-rapid theatrical changes mainly due to its simple set and strong characters.
The play has a simple yet highly realistic setting – Foster’s Diner in New Mexico, a handy dining option that had lost the majority of its clientele owing to a new highway bypass route. The characters include edgy cook Stephen (nicknamed Red Ryder), quiet waitress Angela and their domineering boss Clark. Lyle is a cheerful attendant at the gas station adjacent to the diner. The monotony of the routine is broken as two couples Richard and Clarisse and looney antagonist and Vietnam War veteran Teddy with his hippie girlfriend Cheryl arrive at Foster’s. Each character is supposed to represent a ”type” – either a doer or a dreamer – in this microcosm of 1960s society.
The characters are all plagued by some concerns. While the protagonist Red Ryder is unhappy with his boss and desperately wants to flee the town, seeking better opportunities, Angel is an overweight young girl experiencing a rough patch in her relationship with her mother. Clarisse is discomforted by Richard’s upscale talk while Teddy has an abrasive demeanor and an unusually young girlfriend. The major chunk of the play revolves around Teddy’s retaliation to Lyle’s disobedience that could get Teddy in some serious legal trouble. Teddy, a drug smuggler, torments the couple and two of the workers in the diner with some intense physical violence, humiliation and degradation. Through his condescending and frantic behavior, Teddy serves as an agent of change by destroying myths and shattering illusions of the employees and the customers in the scene while demonstrating incredible nihilism. The essence is delivered by the actors with great finesse, evoking anger and frustration amongst the audience.
The plot does have some holes in it. At one stage, it becomes difficult to resist the urge to rush to the stage and strangle Teddy; however, the characters are sketched as being willingly victimized. Also, the embarrassment Cheryl experiences from Teddy’s antics isn’t evident enough. The play makes up for it with an incredibly detailed setup with elements like a greasy spoon and brilliant performances by the actors.
Donna Gula, a resident of the downstate town Warren, said, “The actors played their roles very well, and the set was very realistic.” Kitty and Meghan Williams, who are Visual and Performing Arts students at Tech, were also quite impressed with the play. Kitty, a Theatre Tech major and also one of the costume designers for the show, said, “What I really liked about the show was how the antagonist Teddy could really make the audience scorn and that was even with having seen the play as many times as I have. He just always maintains the intensity. Also, the changes that the characters go through like Red Ryder’s transition from ‘I am stuck in this place’ attitude to ‘I am actually going to go out there and do what I want’ was fascinating to watch.” While Dustin Hitchings, a Mechanical Engineering student at Tech loved the intensity and authenticity of Red Ryder’s portrayal, Meghan Williams opined that she loved watching her friends and colleagues act in the show. The Williams sisters said they would definitely recommend the show to their near and dear ones.
The play is based on a tough, tight and tense plot with intense characters and a strong message. This Mark Medoff piece is a rich representation of the transition of “dreamers” to “doers” and definitely deserves a watch.
