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There’s value in The Value of Names
BY SALLY CRAGIN
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The Value of Names
By Jeffrey Sweet. Directed by Lesley Chapman. Set by Gino Ng. Costumes by Tracy Campbell. Lighting by Josh Poirier. With Nelleke Morse, Fred Robbins, and Harold Withee. At the Theatre Cooperative through December 11.
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Every blacklisting had its shades of gray. But for once-embargo’d actor Benny Silverman, those who named names will always be persona non grata. Fortunately, Benny was able to get his once-quashed career back on track after being ambushed by the House Un-American Activities Committee. As the years passed, he even got a sinecure role on a sit-com called Rich But Happy. So when his aspiring-actress daughter Norma decides to change her surname, he’s shocked. "Does it sound too Jewish?" he asks, contempt mingled with plaintiveness. Norma explains that, actually, she’s tired of being judged by who her father is. And with a chance for a role in a new play, she’s determined to start fresh. Playwright Jeffrey Sweet took a subject seemingly free of moral ambiguities and developed complex and surprising themes in The Value of Names, the 1982 one-act, three-character drama that’s currently receiving a smart production from Somerville’s Theatre Cooperative. The bickering between Benny and Norma starts things off. Ever since Benny divorced her mother, he and Norma have been separated. Their reunion at his cliffside Malibu home is hardly tender — Benny withholds approval in favor of constant wisecracking, much of which is genuinely funny. But then the director of Norma’s play is replaced by Leo Greshen. Long ago, Leo and Benny started the "New Labor Players," but when it came time to name names, Leo squealed. Leo went on to have success in the business; Benny, after his sit-com run, spends his days stewing and painting his unchanging view of the Pacific. When Leo turns up at Benny’s door, the real drama kicks in. Dapper, with a Mephistophelean goatee, Fred Robbins’s Leo at the Theatre Cooperative is a charmer of a show-biz shark. Harold Withee’s disheveled Benny, on the other hand, is an intransigent tortoise, right down to his slow shuffle and the way he sticks out his chin and stretches his neck to make a point. Although you don’t expect any lasting reconciliation, watching these two exchange feints, barbs, and anecdotes is a delight, despite some very long monologues for both. As Names continues, we discover that Leo feels he’s suffered as much as Benny and the others who lost their livelihoods. His public profile is higher than Benny’s — as a filmmaker, he’s been showered with attention and an honorary degree. But everywhere he goes, he’s asked about his participation in the HUAC hearings. Leo resents this dark lining to his silver cloud and hates the continual requests to "submit to a nice dirty ritual of public cleansing." Sweet has known various blacklistees and relatives of those who went through the experience, and he’s produced a savvy and touching drama about the fallout. Under Lesley Chapman’s direction, the Theatre Cooperative production is effective, though there are some awkward blocking choices where one character is seated downstage with his or her back to the audience while another delivers a monologue. Gino Ng’s monochrome cast-concrete-and-rail design for the Malibu deck is authentically austere. Tracy Campbell’s wardrobe (especially Norma’s shoulder-padded tunic) evokes the early ’80s, but Withee’s old-man sailor cap conceals most of his sour expressions during the early scenes. Josh Poirier’s bright lighting doesn’t have much variety, but it suggests how the sun can bake in grudges over time. As Norma, Nelleke Morse has earnestness aplenty but is a touch monotonous — building to exasperation early gives you no place to go. Still, the value in The Value of Names is in seeing how these old battles never quite resolve.
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