Vince Melocchi’s Nice Things, now in a world-premiere run at Rogue Machine, goes deep into post-industrial America for its drama. Set in 2009 Dunsmore, PA, a town turned wasteland by the closure of the factories and mines that once supported it, Nice Things shows just how bleak life is for the working-class folk who are stuck there these days. Because their jobs have been shipped overseas, they must look to the military for a way out of poverty and hopelessness. By joining the National Guard, for example, these young men and women can get schooling money–and a monthly stipend. It’s a better life, in some respects, but with a hidden price: a possible posting to a war zone like Iraq or Afghanistan.
Nice Things opens with a confrontation between Amy (Connor Kelly-Eiding), a young woman whose fiancé Daniel was killed in Afghanistan, and Bobbie Jo (Rebekah Tripp), the National Guard recruiter who persuaded Daniel to join up. Amy believes the sergeant lied about the risk involved in becoming a Guardsman; Bobbie Jo denies it, even though it’s pretty obvious she fudged the truth.
It would have been easy for the playwright to make Bobbie Jo a villain, but Melocchi doesn’t go that route. He digs deep and gives us a complex character who deserves not just our understanding but our sympathy. Bobbie Jo, we learn, is under intense pressure by the Army to make a monthly recruiting quota. She also suffers from psychic wounds that can be traced back to her own tour of duty Afghanistan, when her unit came under attack by the Taliban. Bobbie Jo’s post-traumatic stress causes her to turn on her partner Sandy (Amy K. Harmon), striking her so hard that the young shopgirl almost passes out.
The fourth character in Nice Things is Justin (Michael Hanson), a teacher who moonlights as a news reporter for the local radio station. When Amy turns to him in her quest to expose the National Guard’s deceptive recruiting practices, he at first backs off. The issue is too hot and controversial, he feels. But Amy prevails by using her sexuality to break down his resistance. Nice Things is about people in the heartland of the USA trying to come to terms with their blighted lives. It also makes a strong case for the rest of us not to forget these people, especially those who gave their lives for our freedom and well-being. The play does all it can to remember and honor them. Skillfully acted and directed, Nice Things also benefits from Stephanie Kerley Schwartz’s nifty sliding set design and from Nicholas Santiago’s video design.
