by Sarah Wright
Watching the audience arrive to the breezy courtyard at the Nantucket Performing Arts Center on opening night, I felt happy. A palpable energy permeated the air as director Mark Shanahan rolled up on his bicycle, then mingled with several ticket holders. In the mood for laughter, everyone seemed relaxed and ready for a good time.
Simply put, Theatre People, or the Angel Next Door provides a delightful ending to any day of the week. In fact, Theatre People could kickstart a serious conversation about theater itself, though it surely aims for something else: to provide a reprieve from the outside world. It definitely delivers.
Theatre People, or the Angel Next Door centers around Oliver Adams (Joe Delafield) and the fate of a novel he’s written about his muse, Margot Bell (Emily Fink). Playwrights Charlotte (Jacqueline Antaramian) and Arthur Sanders (Richard R. Henry) hope their adaptation of his novel will translate into Broadway success.
Meanwhile Margot’s affection for a dimwitted baritone Victor Pratt (John Rapson) seeps through the thin walls of a Newport mansion where they have all gathered for the weekend. Leave it to plucky housekeeper Olga (Amy Jo Jackson) to cut through the ensuing hijinks with perfect posture and a dodgy accent.
Like Russian nesting dolls, Theatre People contains parallel stories that unfold in two acts. Oliver’s situation in act one revolves mainly around whether to sign a publishing contract. Since he hasn’t shown his manuscript to Margot, “publish or perish” takes on farcical dimensions.
Indeed, Oliver’s earnest naïveté and smitten typewritten love letter to Margot are oddly refreshing to see and hear. Because Theatre People takes place in the 1940s, there is exactly one copy of his novel: the original. But when he realizes his love is painfully unrequited, Oliver shreds the publishing contract and shoves it down his throat.
Of course, Charlotte and Arthur have everything to lose if Oliver’s manuscript is lost, let alone never produced. Therefore, while Ollie is ingesting the contract, our playwrights grab hold of the novel’s manuscript to protect it from his jaws. Naturally, Ollie is mortified when he understands Margot’s lust for Victor obviates his entire creative effort. Indeed the physical comedy Delafield puts into his whole achy, breaky heart had the entire house howling.
Soon thereafter, Charlotte crafts a plan to salvage the artistic work she and Arthur have already poured into Oliver’s feelings. And nowhere else in the play is witty repartee more alive than between these two stage veterans. Arthur is a realist who cuts to the chase and distrusts happy endings, while Charlotte is a pragmatist who will save the day. Antaramian and Henry ooze skillful chemistry that holds everything together.
Emily Fink’s Margot Bell transforms into a likable person by the second act, because she is definitely not the angel next door in the first act. The way Fink pulls this off reveals the essence of theater people.
On the other hand, Olga’s observations enhance everyone else’s lines, given how she tries to follow the drama, the comedy, and the absurdity of it all. Her character ultimately comes to appreciate theater people in all their unique glory by the end of the play. And not for nothing, I totally envision Jackson starring in a production of this year’s Tony Award winning best play, “Oh, Mary!”
For his part, Victor Pratt is a lascivious man repeatedly mocked for his lack of intelligence by everyone else on stage. Of course this character seems so familiar in America 2025. And credit to Rapson’s hot take on what this looks and sounds like: foolishness the likes of which we now see everyday.
Theatre People, or the Angel Next Door demonstrates the joyful power of witty repartee, one of my favorite things. It also perfectly reflects the moment we live in, where rewriting reality has become a silly routine. See it for yourself, laugh along with total strangers.
Sarah Wright embraces theater for its live performance art, storytelling, & shared experience.
“Theatre People” is on stage through August 14. Full schedule and tickets at nantucketperformingarts.org
