at the Apothiki Theater
This deeply human and wildly humorous play by Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright David Lindsay-Abaire is being presented for the first time in Greece at the Apothiki Theater. Anna Maria Papacharalambous directs. It is a play that is both harsh and tender, using dry and caustic humor to explore the universal—and ultimately, fairy-tale-like—nature of the American Dream.
Just how meritocratically and generously everyone is offered the chance to “strike it rich” and escape from misery and their class identity through nothing but hard work and a little good luck. Are opportunities truly “equal” for everyone? As the author himself says in The New York Times: “I’ve worked really hard in my life. But I also know others who worked harder than I did and weren’t given the same opportunities…”
The Story
Lower End. South Boston. A working-class neighborhood. Margie Walsh tries to make ends meet as a cashier at the “Oh, What’ll You Take for a Dollar?” store, but she gets fired because she’s constantly late clocking in. The reason is her daughter, who, because she has some form of intellectual disability, takes up a large part of her time. Her landlady is also threatening to evict her. Bingo, the neighborhood’s favorite game, could be a way to make some easy money—if she won, of course. The other solution, her friends say, is to go find Mike, her teenage crush, who is now a prominent doctor and lives in the expensive suburbs with his wife. She should find him and ask him for a job!
And Margie Walsh does just that. And from here on out—throughout her entire journey from the poor suburb where she lives to the affluent neighborhood—she’ll be confronted with the fundamental questions concerning behaviors, lifestyles, and the decisions people make. Decisions that defined her. That shaped her “afterward” and her development. Decisions made because of social status and, perhaps, because of weakness. Decisions that reflect how a person perceives the world, themselves, and—why not—how others see them. Decisions based on kindness? And where does the dividing line lie between all of these?
*Good People* premiered in 2011 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway in New York City. The play was nominated for a Tony Award that same year and also won the New York Critics Circle Award (Best Play of the Year). It has been staged in theaters around the world to great success and rave reviews.
