For the six cast members in the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble’s (BTE) production of “Good People,” which is set in south Boston, their characters may spill over into their everyday lives.
“We tell cast members to talk in dialect in real life while doing the play so they are always talking that way and not turning it on and off,” said BTE Artistic Director Connie Canaday Howard, who is directing the play.
“We are doing a Boston dialect, but not as heavy,” Canaday Howard said. “If the dialect is too heavy, the audience members may not be able to understand it. So it is a tempered south Boston dialect.
Amelia Barrett, who appears in the play as Margie, is also acting as dialect coach.
“She gives some instruction on dialect and gives the cast members some Internet links to listen to dialect,” Canaday Howard said.
“Good People,” written by David Lindsay-Abaire, will be presented at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and at 3 p.m. on Sundays from Feb. 2 through March 5 at the Playhouse Theatre of the McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.
The play centers on Margie Walsh, who is from south Boston. As the story unfolds, she has just been let go from yet another job. Facing eviction and scrambling to keep a roof over her daughter’s head, Margie thinks Mikey Dillon, a guy she dated in high school, who has made it out of the neighborhood and is now a wealthy doctor, might be able to help her make a fresh start.
“Good People” opened on Broadway on March 3, 2011, and closed on May 29, 2011, after a total of 101 performances. Frances McDormand won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for her portrayal of the character Margie.
“The play explores what makes a person ‘good,'” Canaday Howard said. “Is it success? Is it kindness? No one is pure good or pure bad. How they see the world and their responsibilities are different.
“It sounds cheesy, but I really believe in the goodness in people,” Canaday Howard said. “Most people are trying to do the best they can. This play explores that idea very well.”
In addition to mastering the dialects, the production must deal with six scene changes in two acts.
“The challenge in the script is that every scene is a different location,” Canaday Howard said. “We use every space in the playhouse. It must be fluid from scene to scene. Some scenes are set and not lit and others are revealed. In one case, one set actually folds into another. Margie is living her own nightmare/dream and dreams flow fluidly, so we needed scene changes to do that.”
Despite the serious tone, the play has its humorous moments.
“I consider ‘Good People’ to be a comedy/drama,” Canaday Howard said. “The play is very funny, but it is also extremely poignant and touching.
“I think it’s a play for our time,” she said. “It’s about finding hope and finding a way to move forward.”
Randall Mielke is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.
‘Good People’
When: Feb. 2-March 5
Where: McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn
Tickets: $35
Information: 630-942-4000; www.atthemac.org
