Rod McLachlan’s Good Televisionat the Atlantic Theater Company is a play worth making the effort to see. It is Mr. McLachlan's debut as an Off-Broadway playwright, and with a few minor issues, he’s done a superlative job of writing. Bob Krakower's direction is nearly flawless and draws us into the struggles of a family dealing with addiction through the eyes of a supposedly detached "reality television" show.
The play is set in production offices in Los Angeles and in a home in South Carolina. The television production company has a successful reality program on cable that follows the lives of various types of addicts for several weeks. The main goal of the show is to get the addict into a rehabilitation facility paid for by the production company. Accomplishing this involves the complicity of the addict’s family by engineering an "intervention" by the family to get the addict into treatment.
In this story, the choice of addict is problematic with sharp disagreement among the members of the production team. The lead producer on the project is opposed to the one selected but is ultimately overridden by her boss. The end result is an emotion-laden stew that leaves everyone "strung out" in the end.
Connie Cuellar, beautifully played by Kelly McAndrew, is the emotional core of the play. She is the former psychologist and addiction expert who is the main producer of the shows episodes. An encounter with a methamphetamine addict and his sister reveals emotional layers in Connie that she has worked to keep in the shadows.
Talia Balsam plays Bernice, the executive in charge of the show, with a characterization that brings all of the bottom-line oriented cynicism one would expect of someone in her position. In fact, she announces that she is leaving the show to make a move to the Fox Network. This introduces Ethan Taumer, perfectly played Andrew Stewart-Jones, as the new executive in charge. Before he takes over, he is to be the "show-runner" on the Clemson episode.
The show’s production group is completed with the addition of Tara as an assistant producer/intern who is a relative of one of the network managers. Jessica Cummings does a terrific job inhabiting this character and giving her the balancing act of being a good addition to the team without letting nepotism get in the way.
John Magaro inhabits the character of Clemson MacAddy so thoroughly that it is clear from his first appearance that Clemson is one "sick puppy." He brings out all the desperation and confusion that led him to become a "tweaker." His sister, Brittany, seamlessly brought to life by Zoe Perry, is the catalyst that brought Clemson to the attention of the show. She is a divorced single mother with two children and is taking care of her dying mother and her brother Clemson since her alcoholic father ran out on the family 10 years before.
The cast is rounded out with members of the MacAddy clan. Mackson MacAddy (Luke Robertson) is the brother with experience in television, and he almost derails the whole series in an attempt to control the whole "reproduction rights" angle of the episode. He also plays a role in the history of Clemson’s slide into addiction. Ned Van Zandt brings a fully realized Mr. MacAddy, the "born-again" recovered alcoholic father, into the mix. He has all the intentions of making right by his family for all his past transgressions by taking Clemson to a church-run rehabilitation "camp" somewhere in the South.
The supporting team must also be lauded for the great job they do within the limited space of Stage 2 at the Atlantic Theatre Company giving a solid physical shape to the show. Eric Southern's scenic design coupled with Mary Louise Geiger's lighting make the staging and scene changes work nearly seamlessly without impacting on the show’s pacing. The design of the South Carolina home is perfectly realized and sets the tone for the penultimate action. The costume design by Theresa Squire and the music and sound design by Cormac Bluestone complete the production ensemble.
