Two clowns, a gun and homoeroticism

Thursday, the Bloomington Playwrights Project started off its 2004 Dark Alley Series with "The Great Egress," a work by award-winning Midwestern playwright G. Riley Mills. "Egress" is the story of two circus clowns collaborating on a "job" offer received by one of them during the show. The ensuing double-talk, expectant chatter and backstabbing are like any found in a typical crime drama. In "Egress," however, the mood and the irony are partly influenced by the fact that the two clowns talk shop while still in full circus regalia.\nThe clown makeup did wonders for disguising the lack of energy on the part of the two actors. Lee Parker as Nick, the brains of the outfit, had a slow start, seemingly not knowing which side of the comedy/drama line he was supposed to be on. As a result, some moments that could have been entertaining were understated, and he seemed to counter that with moments of over-driven emotion not befitting a criminal doing clowning for a paycheck. \nMarty, the slower half of the duo, played by Paul Lafourest, had the opposite problem. He was believable at first, playing the dumb-guy foil to Nick's ringleader, but when it came time to show plausible reactions to situations in the story, Lafourest's range didn't extend that far. His low-key demeanor was perfect in conversations, but in reactions he fell short.\n"The Man" the two clowns are waiting for, acted by Derrick Krober, was played to nearly perfect overkill. The characterization decision to play this part in a smarmy rather than thuggish manner was a stroke of cool by either the director, actor or both. Save for a few hiccups in lines, the introduction of "The Man" to the audience served both as a refresher and as a key point in the story arc.\nThe script itself is good -- a nice balance between funny 'ha-ha' and funny 'oh, man.' As a one-act play, the theme and the plot twist are both commonly used in other plays and movies, but the line-by-line writing of this particular script makes "Egress" a fun original for anyone over the age of 12 to enjoy. With one setting, no set changes and a 50-minute run time, "The Great Egress" is a great digression from real life, provided the two clowns in the story get their moments together.