Theater Review—

‘See Dick’ Is Enjoyable, Even While Lacking Focus

By Julie Stern

SHERMAN — In the twenty years or so that I’ve been reviewing, Bill Hughes has been a fixture on local stages — as an actor, a director, designer of the most lovingly crafted and detailed sets, and costumer extraordinaire. Now, at The Sherman Playhouse, he demonstrates his considerable skill as a comic writer, in his “childish comedy for grown-ups,” See Dick.

Set in a tiny Manhattan studio apartment, the conceit of the play is that Jack, a recently divorced, socially awkward thirty-something, trapped in a boring job and belittled by his nagging mother, sister and ex-wife, arrives home one day to find his apartment occupied by “Dick.”

Jack is terrified of the intruder, who points a gun at him. The intruder, however, who wanders about the apartment scarfing  Lucky Charms from a cereal box, is annoyed only because Jack doesn’t recognize him.

Who is he? Jack’s imaginary friend, from childhood, who materialized about the time of a youthful bedwetting problem. Jack was sent to a shrink, and Dick disappeared, relegated to the limbo of other outworn childish fantasies.

But now he’s back, and he wants to be friends again. Of course he’s invisible to others. Only Jack can see and hear him.

Jack doesn’t want to, but Dick is patient, and determined. He insinuates himself into Jack’s work life, his family life and his hesitant attempts to connect with a girl. He wants to help. He wants Jack to like him again…

The invisible friend gimmick recalls Mary Chase’s Harvey.  This version is new, rather than a rehash of that gambit. It allows for some very funny conversations, and some staging that I still haven’t figured out completely (when Dick keeps changing into Cassie,  the girl Jack is hoping to get lucky with).

Aaron Kaplan, an actor who just keeps getting better and better (he played Bob, the spurned gay lover in Ridgefield Theater Barn’s production of Beyond Therapy), is terrific here as Jack. James Hipp, looking and acting a lot like Greg Kinnear, performs very well as Dick, although I felt his delivery was too fast.

Katya Collazo is sympathetic as Cass, the girl who is intrigued by Jack’s peculiar conversations, while Quinn Uniacke is the insufferable kid sister, Marcie. The show is stolen, however, by a very small performer named Sebastian, who plays the role of Marcie’s infant son, Sebastian.

See Dick has some genuinely funny moments and some clever lines, demonstrating the fact that Hughes possesses comic talents along with his other gifts. On the whole it was entertaining, but lacked a clear focus.

(Performances continue Friday and Saturday evenings until December 15. Tickets are $20 and can be reserved by calling the Playhouse at 860-354-3622.)