From The City Paper 04/01/2004:

'Drawer Boy' paints poignant picture of friendship
By LEO SOCHOCKI, Lifestyle correspondent

I wish I could say that few stage productions compel me to tears. This would be an untruth. Hell, I cry at ball games. My expeditious use of tear ducts notwithstanding, some shows hold enough power to make avoiding emotional displays impossible. Tennessee Repertory Theatre's The Drawer Boy is one example. Theater

The quick synopsis is that two adult men live together on a farm. The pair are long-term friends. Angus, played by David Grapes, has been injured in World War II and deals with life without the benefit of short-term memory. The other, Morgan as portrayed by Henry Haggard, tends the farm and does his best to keep Angus from trouble.

The farm was purchased when the two returned from war. In the first act, the author offers a vision of life on a working Canadian farm. Guess what? Canadian farms are just as rife with opportunities for humor as those in the good old U.S. The laughter comes in three forms. Laughing with and sometimes at Angus, when he's lost track of the world. Laughing even harder when Morgan reels him back to reality in what is one of the most droll performances since Bob Newhart started talking on the phone. Finally, playwright Michael Healey adds a level of subtle humor specifically suited to the theater and practitioners of the theater art.

Haggard and Grapes complement each other beautifully in telling Healey's story. The play is a poetic contemplation on the bittersweet mingling of memory and regret. Simply put, the man's dialogue is pure genius. For all its melancholic ennui, the show remains firmly rooted in the everyday relationship between the two friends.

One question constitutes the heart of The Drawer Boy: Which is the heavier burden, the weight of memory or the absence of memory? The work's pathos becomes apparent and most effective in the realization that while Angus has completely forgotten his past, Morgan remembers it much too clearly.

The pair's comfortable if austere existence is compromised when an idealistic young actor arrives on their doorstep, eager to study farm life in preparation for a play. As young Miles, Pete Vann has his hands full keeping up with the two more seasoned thespians. He meets the challenge with a firm grasp of the character and an even demeanor that allows the principal relationship to take the focus. As his character plunges into the friends' world, he inadvertently forces the revelation of a secret at the heart of the pair's history. Vann's energetic ineptitude serves as a perfect foil to either of the other actor's stage moments.

Alternating a childlike abeyance with rapid-fire delivery, Grapes fully realizes the comic potential of Angus' condition (he can make sitting and eating a sandwich into a comic moment worthy of Tim Conway's praise). Haggard goes to the other side of the acting spectrum in offering an earthy stability that doesn't completely hide his fear of his memories. Together the pair create a relationship that could be used as a pure definition for the word friendship. Few stage pairings ever attain this level of chemistry.

Director David Alford modulates the pacing of the production with an adept hand that allows the first act to infuse a level of hilarity. This is beautifully counterpoised with the pathos of the second act. Indeed, every element of this production is flawless. The result is a warm, if sometimes wrenching, portrait of two men and a touching exposition of their existence.

This show is the final offering in the Rep's Off Broadway Series. For my money there is no finer theater ticket in town, or for that matter, anywhere in the country. This is the real deal; for theater aficionados, to miss a show of this caliber is unacceptable.

The Drawer Boy continues in TPAC's Johnson Theater through April 4. Tickets and information are available through Ticketmaster, at the TPAC box office, 500 Deaderick St., or by calling Ticketmaster at 255-ARTS.