REVIEW: The Jammer by Rolin Jones. Directed by Terri Weagant. Produced by The Balagan Theatre. Starring Nick Edwards, Christine Nelson, Ashley Bagwell, Michael D Blum. Performances Thursday-Saturday at 8pm and Sundays at 7pm through April 3rd. Show reviewed on Friday, March 12th.
The best way to present unpleasant news, is to just get it out of the way: Rolin Jones’ The Jammer is not a very good play. It has its moments and it has its charms but essentially it’s a 20 minute SCTV spoof that has been dragged out for 90+ minutes. It’s not a piece of theater worthy for the talented people at The Balagan who demonstrate here, and with past productions that they have the chops to pull off difficult theatrical works on a shoestring budget. I understand the appeal of this show…it is easy to sell. Roller derby is hot right now, and comedy shows are always easier to sell than drama. Friday night was sold out and I hear that they are doing well on ticket sells for this show, so I’m happy for the Balagan…they need to fill seats and they need to make money and this kind of short, silly, easy to market show is probably very good for their balance sheet. But, I still didn’t care for it much, and I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it as a piece of brilliant theatre, but I can recommend seeing it for the excellent performances, the astute direction and the clever stagecraft of the Balagan design and technical crews. They were on top of their game.
Set in the 1950’s, The Jammer is the story of a lovable Brooklyn mug named Jack Lovington (Nick Edwards) a young man frustrated by his crummy job, crummy life and crummy relationship with his girlfriend Aurora (Jessica Stepka). Jack dreams of becoming a Roller Derby star and when Derby owner/promoter Lenny Ringle (Ashley Bagwell) offers him an opportunity to join a professional team, Jack jumps at the offer despite the misgivings of Aurora, and Jack’s friend and mentor Father Kosciusko (Michael D Blum). Jack’s relationship with his girlfriend and mentor are strained when he becomes infatuated with the mentally and emotionally unstable Roller Derby Queen Lindy Batello, (Christine Nelson). Will Jack find love with Lindy or patch things up with Aurora? Will love conquer all, or will venereal disease raise its ugly head and ruin the lives of everyone involved? The Jammer attempts to deal with both questions in its 90 minutes, at times succeeding and at times, falling flat.
But, the actors never fall flat (roller derby joke) in The Jammer. Moonfaced Nick Edwards is ideal casting for the dreamy eyed romantic Jack and if his goofy sweet performance reminds you a bit of Jackie Gleason or William Bendix, then that’s high praise. Edwards grounds the show with the slow wit and charm of the character and it’s no coincidence that the show drags when the character is not on stage. Equally fine, but in sharp contrast to Jack is the character of the fierce Derby Queen Lindy Batello played by Christine Nelson. Lindy is mean, crazy, profane and horny and Nelson is able to play all the comedic aspects of a mean, crazy, profane, horny roller derby queen and encourage us to laugh at her bitchy attitude toward life but even more impressively, Nelson does a fine job of portraying the lost, frail, sensitive and lonely sides of the character in the final moments of the play. Her final scene with Nick Edwards is a lovely played duet and probably the finest moment of the play, if not a bit out of step with much of the ribald burlesque that preceeded it…one of the main faults of the play, for me.
To get back to my previous comparison to SCTV, Ashley Bagwell’s shady/sweet Lenny Ringle is more than a kissin’ cousin to Joe Flaherty’s Guy Caballero and Jessica Stepka’s trio of characters she plays brings to mind the rubber faced charms of Catherine O’Hara. Ray Tagavilla’s facility for accents made each of his characters unique and very funny…it’s a bit cheap to laugh at non-Anglo actors for doing Irish accents, but Mr Tagavilla’s wit and excellent channeling of his inner Liam Neeson (his English yob, and Jewish doctor were also winners) is just a testament to his talents as an actor and voice artist. Michael D Blum as the fatherly priest, Father Kosciusko didn’t quite fit as seamlessly as the rest of the cast into the 50’s setting; Mr Blum seemed a bit too contemporary compared to the rest of the cast, and he seems a bit young for his part, but Blum is blessed with a commanding voice and presence and made the part his own. (Blum was also very funny in a second role as a dimwitted derby athlete nicknamed “Three Nuts”). The rest of the ensemble, playing multiple roles, did a fine job of making each character unique, largely aided by the excellent costumes of Drew Myers Regulinski. The simple set was effective, though noisy, (pieces were rolled in and out as required). The lighting was as good as it could be…Balagan’s basement theater and very low ceilings do not make for a good lighting situation, but they do the best they can. And, finally, a shout out to director Terri Weagant, best known as an actress, who demonstrates she is equally talented as a director. She did a fine job staging a complicated, demanding show featuring roller derby, roller coasters, bus rides, church confessionals and visits to the clap doctor…she kept the pace brisk and knows where and how to place her actors…when the show lags, it is NOT due to the direction but to the oddities of the text (a sub plot with the new parish priest, Father Domingo should just be dropped…not the actor or director’s fault; it’s just a dumb element that slowed down the show.)
In summary, it is a show that can be funny, and it is a show that can be touching and it is a show full of great performances and stagecraft but ultimately it is a show that is about twice too long for its own good. I’m now really looking forward to Balagan’s NEXT production, Sam Shepard’s True West which starts April 8th!
Photo credits: Andrea Huysing
-Michael Strangeways
About the Author: Michael Strangeways
