It's Only a Play

Terrence McNally's comedy about a group of “theater people”—and one critic— waiting for the reviews on opening night still has more than a few good laughs, especially in this well-cast production by the Closet Door Theatre Company.

In the sumptuous Manhattan home of inexperienced producer Julia Budder (Kellie Yvonne Raines), stage-turned-TV actor James Wicker (Sean O'Neal)—who passed on the lead in The Golden Egg—waits with the director (Bert Andersson), the female lead (Eliza Webb), a wannabe star waiter (Daryl Clark), the playwright (Wade Lucas) and a cabbie (Ruby Sketchley).

And, oh, yes, a critic (Jon Jackson).

And, oh, do the critics ever take some hits in this one. Fortunately, the jokes are both funny—and just a little bit true.

But the real winners here are the chemistry between the actors (especially Andersson, O'Neal and the always luminous Raines, who turns the use of profanity into a theatrical event); the willingness of all hands to go full bore into physical comedy—including a Homer Simpson-like throttling, delivered with red-faced pleasure by Lucas; and a run-in with a vicious dog and some lasagna that Jackson takes with aplomb.

It's Only a Play is also the community debut of director Andrea Slay, a recent theater graduate from American River College, who—assisted by O'Neal, a veteran—does a wonderful job.

In fact, if the jokes were a bit less '80s-inspired, this show might even reflect a company waiting for the review from SN&R.