Happy in the Poorhouse

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Happy in the Poorhouse

The Amoralists at Theatre 80 St. Marks

Reviewed by Nicole Villeneuve

March 15, 2010

Photo by Larry Cobra

If the Amoralists' new production, "Happy in the Poorhouse," is any indication, Coney Island is the corner of New York where dreams go to die. "You just can't make plans in this world," says Mary, one Mermaid Avenue resident. "They never go the way you draw them down."

Every character in "Happy in the Poorhouse" seems to have his or her share of disappointments, but none more than Paulie "The Pug" Pizzarulli, Coney Island's Willy Loman. His chances at a fighting career have fizzled, his brother-in-law is paying the bills, and with his parents long dead, he has pinned his hopes on another rising star: his sister, who has moved out of the neighborhood to play country music.

On top of that, playwright Derek Ahonen leads with the revelation that, eight months in, Paulie (James Kautz) still hasn't consummated his marriage to Mary (Sarah Lemp). Ahonen, who also serves as director, deftly captures the paradoxes of human relationships in the couple's dialogue. When Paulie questions inviting a guest who will try to fight him, Mary responds that she does it "because we love him." The tension between the two is apparent in the blocking: The characters are never on the same side of the room.

But the most interesting paradox is the fact that despite everything going wrong, Paulie never loses his belief that things will work out for the best. Kautz's performance is so sincere and sweet that one is heartbroken to think that Paulie's is a mindless hope. Like Mary's sign for a returning war hero that reads "Welcome back from over there," he is ignorant of the realities of his condition.

Despite the play's occasional gravity, the majority of it is a parade of campy characters and absurd situations: an innocuously ditzy sister, two-timing managers, parents eaten by sharks. Everyone in this lot has had a dream deferred, but for the most part they seem to absentmindedly bumble about.

We want to mock the crew on Mermaid Avenue; we also want to believe in their futures. Yet with an increasingly contrived plot, culminating in the arrival of a gay nurse and a resolution that comes out of thin air, it's tempting to file the play away under campy fluff. But Paulie's plight, despite its uneven presentation, stays with you. "I'm not thinking this is my paradise either," he says. "But I'm happy in the poorhouse, 'cause the dream is worth the little million beatings I get for believing my life's worth a damn."

Presented by the Amoralists at Theatre 80 St. Marks, 80 St. Mark's Place, NYC. March 13–April 26. Mon., Thu.–Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 5 p.m. (212) 388-0388 or www.theatre80.org.