| A "Secret Order" Is At 59 E 59 Theater |
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| Written by Kevin Filipski | |
Secret Orderwritten by Bob Clymandirected by Charles Towers starring Larry Pine, Jessi Campbell, Dan Colman, Kenneth Tigar Performances from November 9 to December 9, 2007 59 E 59 Theater 59 East 59th Street 59e59.org  Dan Colman and Larry Pine in "Secret Order"  Jessi Campbell in "Secret Order"  Robert Brock convicing William Shumway to help him out  A scene from "Secret Order" William Shumway, an idealistic research scientist, finds a startling breakthrough in the cure for cancer; that he toils in the relative obscurity of a Midwestern facility prompts the charismatic head of a world-renowned research facility in New York, Robert Brock, to bring him on board. Once there, William is overcome by various distractions—from his young student assistant, Alice Curiton, to visions of Nobel Prizes dancing in his head—which triggers possible ethical lapses when it’s discovered that William’s “cure” might not be what he (and many others) had hoped. Clyman masters a difficult tightrope act as his characters repeatedly discuss matters of medical import intelligently without sacrificing the lay audience’s comprehension. Clayman’s believable dialogue also carries enough weight to ensure our concern for William’s ethical dilemma without piling on paranoid conspiracies that a lesser writer might shoehorn in. Indeed, there’s a remarkable lack of obvious heightening or exploitation throughout “Secret Order,” and its most blatant appearance—the moment when Alice, overcome by William’s brilliance, blurts out, “Will you have sex with me?”—is done for a laugh, then dropped. The Merrimack Theatre Company’s smart production, directed by Charles Towers, is a sleek, no-nonsense affair whose minimal sets (chairs and a single table functioning as everything from an office desk to a lab table to a park bench) allows us to concentrate on Clayman’s ingenious plotting and dialogue. The formidable quartet of actors—Larry Pine (Robert), Jessi Campbell (Alice), Dan Colman (William) and Kenneth Tigar (Saul Roth, the story’s villain of sorts)—superbly functions both individually and as an ensemble, creating idiosyncratic characterizations to further illuminate Clayman’s skillful writing. “Secret Order” is reminiscent of David Auburn’s “Proof” in how it arrestingly treats material not usually deemed sufficiently dramatic for the stage. And that’s high praise indeed for Bob Clayman’s tightly-constructed, well-paced drama. |
