'Stella and Lou' at People's Light: A Philly-voiced play with universal depth

By the end of Stella and Lou, the excellent Bruce Graham play that opened over the weekend at People's Light & Theatre Company in Malvern, you're relieved that this love-amid-the-ruins play, about middle-aged people getting a second chance at life, was premiered with respectable success in Chicago.

So echt-Philly is this script that people from elsewhere might not understand why venturing into New Jersey is measured by the number of toll booths - and miss the play's considerable deeper issues.

But Stella and Lou works for all beholders, even though its deeper issues arrive with a strong local accent in the play's South Philly flee-or-fight barroom dynamics.

While some people might react to trauma by seeking ways to turn the page on their lives, Lou, the widowed bar owner, pulls inward into emotional isolation, trying to stop time and keep everything the same, in a jury-rigged attempt at equilibrium. Such reactions are believable when set in Philadelphia's more insular neighborhoods.

Even positive changes bedevil this small world. Donnie, a younger patron, nearly drinks and argues away a woman who appears to have his best interests at heart. That's the kind of mind-set Stella is up against. An over-55 contemporary of Lou, she's looking to change her life, possibly by moving to Florida. But she's more interested in Lou.

The plot might seem mundane, particularly for those of us who have seen enough theater and too many barroom romances. But Stella and Lou succeeds through the conviction of the writing. Playwright Graham could easily be a grief counselor, so psychologically specific is his portrayal of spousal loss, and the loss of identity that comes with tending anyone through a long, fatal illness. No wonder Lou clutches at familiarity: As the script reveals, exhaustion is yet another side effect of grief.

The play's great theme is the impossibility of standing still, of freezing time, of not moving forward. Staying stationary in a dynamic world, of course, means moving backward. We all know that, but this is an eloquent reminder.

Pete Pryor's direction does what it should: Keep the actors moving enough that the play doesn't come off as a mere talk-fest. The leading characters are played by two of People's Light's longtime company members. As Stella, Marcia Saunders has the fairly straightforward task of revealing her not-too-well-hidden intentions toward Lou, and she does so like a master. Initially more questionable is Tom Teti as Lou. The character is full of plainspoken wit; he's a master banterer. Yet Teti seems to be walking through the role halfheartedly at first - until much later, when you realize he's all but dead inside. Very effective. And then Teti makes his character catch fire.

The young barfly Donnie could come off as a caricature, as he drinks, drinks more, devours pizza, and yells at his unseen girlfriend. But in Scott Greer's portrayal, Donnie gives the play the bombastic relief that it needs.

StartText

Stella and Lou

Through Aug. 23 at People's Light, 39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern. Tickets: $27-$47. Information: 610-644-3500, www.peopleslight.org.

EndText