There was a heightened sense of anticipation as audiences filled into Milwaukee’s Studio Theater, in the city’s Third Ward. Milwaukee Chamber Theater was about to present the world premiere of Wisconsin playwright Erica Berman. The play, No Wake had received an overwhelmingly positive response when it first was presented as a staged reading in Madison, Wis. by Forward Theater. Now it was time to see a fully staged production, complete with sets, props, costumes, and so forth. Luckily, the Milwaukee audience was not disappointed. Although this reviewer did not see the staged readings of this show (there were more than one), one can only guess that the audience reaction to the play’s emotional roller-coaster was the same when offered as a fully staged production. Director Kayleigh Kitzman (who has worked in many capacities with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre over the years) takes just the right approach to this material. It is funny without being saccharine, sorrowful without being depressing, and fanciful without going over-the-top.
The play is set in New Hampshire, although the two awesomely constructed summer cabins (set design by Jody Sekas) could easily be mistaken for Wisconsin’s “up North.” Both cabins face water’s edge, and the lake is as much of a character as the actors onstage.
Berman’s two-hander pairs an older man, Peter Michaels, with a much younger woman, Sarah Jones. There isn’t any romance involved, but the two develop a mutual respect over the course of the play. Peter arrives for the summer at his cabin, only to find Sarah noisily cleaning the neighboring cabin. Peter is friends with the couple who own the other cabin, and he is somewhat unhappy to learn that they will not be coming this season. Sarah, a brash, profane 19-year-old, tells Peter that in addition to cleaning the cabin, she’s also hired to spend two or three nights a week there to prevent break-ins.
At first, Peter is so enmeshed in his own thoughts that he doesn’t pay Sarah much attention. After a while, however, he starts paying Sarah to do chores around the house. Peter lets on that this is his first summer at the cabin without his wife, and he isn’t keen to pick up his wife’s chores as well as his own. He prefers to sit outside by the lake. Occasionally, he barks “no wake” through a bullhorn at the passing speed boats and jet skis. He’s trying to protect the declining loon population, he tells Sarah. Strong currents caused by a boat engine could disrupt the nests of the lake’s resident loon population.
Although there’s really nothing new in the relationship that builds between this odd couple, No Wake is pleasant enough to watch during its one hour, 45-minute running time (no intermission). Both characters find out that there are more similarities between them than either had initially thought. Sarah, beneath her tough exterior, is one of the primary caretakers for her disabled sister. Peter, a professor, empathizes with Sarah’s dilemmas as he might do with his own students back in Boston. He reveals a sad secret as well.
Peter eventually takes an interest in Sarah’s future, even when she fails to see why anyone cares about her “dead end” life, as she calls it. Milwaukee Chamber Theater could hardly ask for a better cast. Stage veteran Robert Spencer, who has Broadway credits and was a member of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s resident company for many years, is outstanding as Peter. His facial expressions, gestures and movement are perfectly matched to his character. Newcomer Hannah Shay is no less wonderful as Sarah. Playing a 19-year-old is not easy to do, but Hannah has all the right moves, expressions and passions that tend to identify girls of that age. Her East Coast accent is right on the money, thanks in part to dialect coach Raeleen McMillon. By the end of the play, the audience is so invested in these two characters that we almost hates to see them go. Perhaps Erica Berman will write a sequel someday, and audiences can return once more to the lakefront cabins of No Wake.
