A predominantly black neighborhood is gentrifying.
Once known as a place to score drugs, it’s now welcoming more and more middle-class residents. However, young African-American men are still loitering on the streets, harassing the newcomers as they walk past.
That’s the potentially fraught setting for Tracey Scott Wilson’s “Buzzer,” now at Goodman Theatre and directed by Jessica Thebus. The focus of the play is on three characters: a successful young African-American lawyer named Jackson (Eric Lynch); the white girlfriend he’s sharing an apartment with, Suzy (Lee Stark), who works as a teacher; and Jackson’s childhood friend, Don (Shane Kenyon), a recovering drug addict who says he needs a place to stay until he gets back on his feet.
This scenario holds strong potential for a drama exploring difficult urban issues with no easy answers, and Wilson’s play delves into the debates over gentrification and race relations. But her script and Goodman’s cast fail to make the trio of characters feel like a believable household. Too much of the dialogue is delivered at a shrill pitch, and too much of it explains what is happening rather than letting the audience watch it happen. It doesn’t help that the play’s early scenes rely on the tired gimmick of overlapping dialogue, making it difficult to follow what everyone is saying without achieving any notable artistic effect.
However, the Goodman design team’s work is a highlight. Walt Spangler’s set surrounds the apartment with the neighborhood’s graffiti-marred business signs and a touch of barbed wire. Plus, sound designer Mikhail Fiksel brings in noises from the street. Together, they create vivid sensations of the street outside the apartment, which is never actually seen.
“Buzzer” is at its most effective in its climax, when the roommates confront one another about their secrets and lies, which is followed by a suspenseful and wordless final scene that illustrates the neighborhood’s tensions. If only the rest of “Buzzer” were as subtle as those closing moments.
“Buzzer” continues through February 23 at Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. Call 312-443-3800 or visit the theatre’s website for tickets and schedule.
Photo: The Goodman Theatre’s production of “Buzzer” stars, from left, Lee Stark, Eric Lynch and Shane Kenyon. Photo by Liz Lauren.
