Review: The Gamm Theatre Scores with Note-Perfect 'Between Riverside and Crazy'

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor Stephen Adly Guirgis ("The Motherfucker with the Hat," nominated for seven Tonys) wrote "Between Riverside and Crazy" in 2014 and won the aforementioned prize, as well as the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Lucille Lortel Award for outstanding play, and two others. With such accolades, this play is a comedy-drama gem and draws the audience into its clutches before anything truly happens.

Walter "Pops" Washington (Cliff Odle), a retired New York City police officer whose son, Junior (Daniel Washington), just got released from prison, is living in a rent-controlled apartment on Riverside Drive. The odd little family is rounded out by Junior's girlfriend, Lulu (Luz Lopez), and Oswaldo (Arturo Puentes), a recovering addict. They all dote on Pops, who is on the verge of being evicted – the result of a discrimination suit against the police department because he was shot by another police officer. Pop's wife has died recently, but his relationship with her had cooled somewhat, owing to injuries he sustained in the shooting.

Frequent Gamm actor Jeff Church makes his directorial debut here, and he ticks all the boxes: great casting, fabulous material, and he helms the play with a skilled hand. Several actors make their Gamm debut here: Puentes has been seen at Trinity Repertory Company ("Sueno," "A Christmas Carol"), Washington has a respectable resume ("Othello," Hulu's "I Want to Dance with Somebody"), and Lopez is a Dominican/Puerto Rican actress and director. Maria Albertina (who plays Church Lady) also makes a debut here, and I won't spoil her purpose in the play, but her scenes garner some of the show's best laughs.

Guirgis' script is rife with profanity and observations about the unfair situations life deals many of us, but it hits the right notes, and this cast has got the rhythm of the story with all of its ugly revelations. Make no mistake, it's howlingly funny at times, and often downright heartbreaking, with Odle's performance at the center, Pops doling out all of his pretzel logic to anyone who'll listen. As two former colleagues, Lieutenant Caro (a hyper and humorous Anthony Goes) and his fiancee Audrey (Rachel Dulude, who is fantastic in these types of roles), give him the shakedown, trying to convince him that he should drop his suit. Pops digs in his heels and won't budge.

Further proof Church has made the right casting choices lies in how each of the cast owns their scenes. Lopez is very funny as the dim-witted girlfriend; Puentes goes from recovering addict to relapse in seconds; and Albertina nearly steals the show just before the end of the first act – you have to see her performance to believe it.

"Between Riverside and Crazy" grabs you squarely by the shoulders and never lets go. It's a rollercoaster of emotion, revelation, laughter, and tragedy. As usual, the Gamm knocks this one out of the park.

"Between Riverside and Crazy" is running through March 9 at The Gamm Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick, RI 02886. For information or tickets, call 401-723-4266 or visit www.gammtheatre.org.