JOHN CRAIG PHOTOGRAPHY
Dawn Varava, left, and Caity Brown co-star in The South Camden Theatre Company’s production of “Hollywood, Nebraska.”
“Hollywood, Nebraska,” which is having its regional premiere at the Waterfront South Theatre in Camden through March 16, is a send-up of small town America and all that it represents, both good and bad.
As two homegirls, now in their 40s and on the downside of Hollywood fame, return to their Midwestern roots, they quickly find out that, yes, you can go home again. But prepare to be smacked in the face with all those old emotions and feelings of inadequacy that made you run screaming from the Sunday potluck in the first place.
Jane, now an unemployed actress trying to deal with the fact that “every good show has to close,” is on the hunt for a new agent. But when she arrives back in western Nebraska to check on her ailing and emotionally needy mom, it feels as if she already has one foot out the door.
Same for her old high school chum, Andrea, a fellow actress who also is back in town following the death of her father. She, too, wears the snug Midwestern embrace like an itchy woolen sweater.
“Hollywood, Nebraska” kicks off the South Camden Theatre Company’s 20th anniversary season, something that seemed unlikely when the group first staged its plays in the basement of Sacred Heart Church at the request of the late visionary Father Michael Doyle. Today, Waterfront South Theatre, a little gem of a performance space, is the first free-standing professional theater built in Camden in more than 100 years, a gift from the Domenica Foundation and the Heart of Camden. Together, the nonprofit organizations rebuilt a dilapidated building adjacent to the church, which had been a corner bar.
JOHN CRAIG PHOTOGRAPHY
Tanya Morgan in “Hollywood, Nebraska.”
Since then, the company has been disproving the idea that no one will come to see theater in Camden. Which is not unlike the message “Hollywood, Nebraska” playwright Kenneth Jones is sending.
In this taffy-pull of a play, where we wonder throughout who will finally own Jane and Andrea’s hearts — Main Street or Hollywood Boulevard — the writer makes a strong case for the value and comfort of community and that art is where you make it.
Alma, the play’s homespun “Everymom,” lavishes praise on her TV-star daughter Jane while throwing guilt bombs at her about how most of the other local kids stayed in town — unlike Jane, who she also thinks doesn’t visit nearly often enough.
Dawn Varava, who is in her third year as the company’s artistic director, captures the deep loneliness and resentment that smolders under Alma’s happy-talk veneer, playing her with equal parts martyrdom and saintliness.
Jane, presented as a walking bundle of nerves by Caity Brown, often wants to run back to L.A., where, she says, “we don’t have neighbors. We have hedges.” Brown’s constant unease captures Jane’s fear that this place may wind up being the only thing left for her, especially when it becomes clear that Alma needs more help than she has been letting on. When friendly neighbor Robert and his young daughter Katie arrive with a homemade tuna casserole, conversation quickly reveals just how much they have happily been doing for Alma.
JOHN CRAIG PHOTOGRAPHY
Caity Brown, left, and Leah Senseney in “Hollywood, Nebraska.”
Katie, a high schooler with stars in her eyes, is smitten by Jane and attempts to latch on, hoping to capture some of her stardust. But Katie, played by Leah Senseney with just the right amount of energy and wonder, finds it hard to penetrate Jane’s tough exterior. Jane turns her nose up to Katie’s tuna casserole, calling it “the seafood of the high plains,” and warns the youngster to “never, never become an actress.”
Robert, played by Stephen Kreal, is a salt-of-the earth local contractor, and a handsome widower. Kreal perfectly captures the character’s hospitality and neighborliness as he dotes over Alma and manages to charm Jane at the same time.
In fact, it isn’t long before Robert and Jane become intimate and Alma becomes jealous and angry over her daughter swooping in to steal Robert’s attention, jeopardizing the family dynamic she has been enjoying with her neighbors.
Meanwhile, the sassy, sexy and seemingly self-assured Andrea, energetically played with attitude and restlessness by Tanya Morgan, prances and performs for the homefolk.
Insisting that everyone call her Ahn-dree-uh, she perhaps brags a tad too much about how successful and happy she is. Ultimately, we find out that just the opposite is true.
JOHN CRAIG PHOTOGRAPHY
Scott Berkowitz in “Hollywood, Nebraska.”
But that doesn’t stop her from making headway with a handsome local, Lance — Robert’s equally kind and giving construction sidekick. Played like a gangly overgrown puppy by Scott Berkowitz, Lance quickly learns that while Andrea sees him as easy on the eyes, she could easily be gone in a wink.
“Hollywood, Nebraska” is small town, muted lamps vs. big-city bright lights, where white and blue collars come together to create their own shades of sadness and joy. Director Connie Norwood expertly draws out the cultural edges and scenic designer Robert Bingaman manages to creatively produce additional settings in a very tight space.
Playwright Jones’ most successful work so far has been “Alabama Story,” set in the Jim Crow South, where a segregationist senator clashes with a state librarian over the content of a children’s picture book. Although “Hollywood, Nebraska” doesn’t focus on themes of social justice, his exploration of how small town generosity and community can also breed insecurities and parochial attitudes will likely resonant with New Jersey audiences, many of whom come from small towns the farther you travel from its big cities, like Camden.
Jones describes his play as a sadness-streaked Chekhovian family comedy. And that, it is.
South Camden Theatre Company will present “Hollywood, Nebraska” at The Waterfront South Theatre in Camden through March 16. Visit southcamdentheatre.org.
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