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YOUNGSTOWN -- I have many fond memories of watching quality productions in the third-floor performance space of the Morley Arts Building.
Add one more to the list.
The former home of the Oakland Center for the Arts reopened Friday as The Playhouse Downtown, a satellite of the Youngstown Playhouse. New lights and sound and other tweaks have been made to the theater itself. Renovations in the lobby and other areas still need to be done.
The Playhouse Downtown still may be a work in progress, but its production of "The Lyons" is a fully formed gem.
Nicky Silver's play couldn't sound less like a comedy in its description -- a family gathers in the hospital room of its dying patriarch and his impending death brings to the surface decades of suppressed anger and disappointment -- but both the writing and the Playhouse's talented cast had the opening night audience laughing frequently, even if it's often in shock at how these characters treat one another.
Lyons is the surname of the family at the center of the story. It also refers to the lying they've been doing to each other for years, and the way they tear into one another like carnivorous beasts.
Matriarch Rita Lyons (Molly Galano) can't hide her desire to move on following her husband's death. She sits in the hospital room flipping through decorating magazines imagining the possibilities for their home after Ben Lyons (Terry Shears) no longer is around to object to getting rid of their stained, thread-bare furniture. She sees a fresh start; he sees himself being erased.
Watching local theater veterans Galano and Shears bicker and battle and react to each other is thoroughly entertaining. Under the direction of Connor Bezeredi, their interplay finds the laughs without muting the anger and disappointment that fuel them. They are vicious to one another and many of their actions are indefensible, but they are not wholly unlikeable. It's a difficult needle to thread, and Galano and Shears deliver a masterclass on how to deliver Silver's outrageous and profane dialogue.
The impact of decades of living with them can be seen as their children arrive to see their father.
Daughter Lisa Lyons (Jeanine Rees) is a divorced recovering alcoholic (her parents blame her ex for her drinking problem, even though she reminds them she met her future husband at an AA meeting). Mom picks apart her life choices and her parenting, casually speculating whether one of her grandchildren may be mentally challenged. Audience members may need a drink just watching the dressing down Lisa receives.
Son Curtis (Eric McCrea) gets the brunt of his abuse from his dad, who never hides his disappointment in his son's sexuality or, really, in any of his life choices. When the dad suspected he was gay, he got rid of all his toys, except for the army men, and his wife's copy of Judy Garland's "Live at Carnegie Hall" album (in one of Bezeredi's many nice touches, that album plays before the start of the play and at intermission).
In different ways, Rees and McCrea play the walking wounded, the collateral damage of a bad marriage. Both are more than up to the challenge. Donovan Rubante as a struggling realtor and actor and Christine Duster as a nurse have some nice moments in the second act, but this is a family story and those characters mainly exist to illuminate the family dynamic, specifically Curtis's corner of it.
The same goes for the technical elements. Johnny Pecano's set, Ellen Licitra's lighting, Pete Sherman's costumes and Kath Steeb's sound all accentuate the story without drawing focus from the performers.
"The Lyons" very much is an actors' play, and Bezeredi lets his Lyons roar.
If you go …
WHAT: "The Lyons"
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: The Playhouse Downtown, 220 W. Boardman St., Youngstown
HOW MUCH: Tickets are $17 and are available online at experienceyourarts.org and by calling 330-259-9651.