Endpapers

What could be more reassuring and satisfying to a playwright than to have his first full-length play turn out to be quite good? That playwright Thomas McCormack happens to be 70 years old may, at first, sound astonishing but not when you discover that his play is drawn from a world he knows intimately. Isn't that what everyone tells us to write about?

For nearly 40 years as the chairman and CEO at St. Martin's Press, McCormack has done for the publishing industry what Jerry Sterner did for the world of corporate takeovers in Other People's Money. The place is a New York publishing house where a transfer of power follows the demise of its leader and founder. The play follows the intrigue, machinations, sides-taking and confrontational meetings of various editors who rally around their favorite candidates. The house -- the fictitious House of Maynard Books -- is in serious financial trouble, as a result of its attempt to remain a mid-size independent company in an era of consolidation and dispersion.

Within Neil Patel's convincing, beehive-like setting that sprawls across the Variety Arts Theater stage, a spread of cubicle-like offices get, in turn, Rui Rita's attention-grabbing lighting. In his wheel-chair and plagued with increasing dementia, Joshua Maynard (William Cain), the founder and publisher of Maynard Books is aware it is time to turn over the reins to another. The issues at stake are maintaining the prestige of this revered company and solve its financial woes. The two most likely successors: Ted Giles (Tim Hopper), a shrewd, unscrupulous, unsentimental hard-liner with a cunning aptitude for success; Griff (Bruce McCarty), a philosophical idealist with a valuable and commendable platform of know-how and ethics. Don't be too quick to figure out who wins the top-spot. The decision rests with Maynard's heir, his bright 27 year-old daughter Sara (Maria Thayer) who has returned to the family business after years of general floating about.

Although she favors Griff, she is concerned by his lack of aggressiveness in the fight. She fears the changes that Ken might affect if she supported him, but she is being forced to consider the bottom-line and few options for survival laid out by no-longer-compassionate banker and long-time supporter of the company John Hope (Alex Draper). Amazingly, and with barely a hint of sex, jokes or comedy, the play builds to a surprising (you won't guess it) climax. This, as the various editors find themselves on the offensive and defensive, as they attempt to lobby for their long-time personal clients, some of whom are authors who may no longer be bringing in the dough. They are an interesting group of dedicated people, each one finely created for contrast by the playwright and excellently acted. Beth Dixon is dynamic as Kay, the shrewd and feisty editor with a far-right agenda and strong support of Ted. Shannon Burkett is splendid as Sheila Berne, Ken's easily intimidated assistant editor whose willingness to be humiliated is tempered by an agenda of her own. In Griff's corner are Cora (Pippa Pearthree), a touching, plain-speaking, down-to-earth editor who finds solace in alcohol, and Grover Shively (Neil Vipond), an unassuming and insecure editor, brother of the deceased. In between the office politics weave the day-to-day dilemmas of keeping eccentric and difficult authors either content or in tow like Ram Spencer (Greg Salata) the blow-hard minor movie star with a tell-all book and Peter Long (Oliver Wadsworth), the Truman Capote of Maynard Books. These last two are the play's only concession to caricature.

So what is it that holds our attention most in a world where little thought is given or time allotted to seduction or silliness? While the play presumes to keep our focus on the outcome of the fight, we are mostly taken by the fast and furious chatter of these passionate people dedicated to books, publishing, and the flair for the right word in the right situation. So it's really a play about great gabbing and what it takes to keep a sinking business afloat. Director Pamela Berlin does a terrific job keeping a steady flow of activity from one office to the next and for keeping the actors -- no up-stagers here -- performing as an ensemble.

Endpapers may not be in the very best tradition of dramatic literature. But, filled as it is with wit, literacy and insight, it is an earnest appreciation for the world of publishing and for those people whose general concerns and private agendas keep it going.