Playwright Adam Szymkowicz's 'Mercy," having its world premiere at NJ Repertory Company June 14, centers on a struggling widower who meets the man responsible for his wife's death and must decide if he wants to act on his grief. The show runs through July 15.
“Mercy” — which had its world premiere at New Jersey Repertory Company June 14 — centers on a man trying to care for his infant and keep it together at work while mourning the unexpected death of his wife. Then, he accidentally encounters the man responsible for her death and must decide if he will avenge her.
Hilarity ensues.
Truly, it does, according to director Gail Winar.
“It’s not slapstick,” Winar said. “The humor comes from the absurdities and awkwardness of every day life and how you relate to it when something extraordinary has happened to you –in this case, the loss of a loved one.”
NJ Rep specializes in nurturing new works and this is its third world premiere this season. Critic Patrick Maley called the most recent, “Issei, He Say,” an “evocative, challenging play.”
Playwright Adam Szymkowicz said he’s not sure what inspired the play — he wrote it about six years ago and his wife, then and now, is fine, thanks for asking.
“I’ve written a lot of dark comedy. It’s the place I go to most,” said Szymkowicz, who citesplaywrights Christopher Durang and Nicky Silver as influences. “The comedy part comes naturally and the dark part is whatever I’m interested in.”
Humor is something people use to cope with tense times, Winar said. She recalled that when her late father was fighting cancer, he needed a feeding tube. The doctor was explaining to the family how there would only be a few stitches on either side of the tube and that they would fade. Winar’s father said, “How ’bout a zipper?” The family members burst into laughter.
“We were on the floor. My mom laughed so hard there were tears coming down her face,” Winar said. “This was scary for my dad. This was scary for all of us. But he used humor to defuse the situation and it wasn’t as scary anymore.”
“Mercy” runs 90 minutes without intermission and Jacob A. Ware, who plays grieving Orville, is in every scene.
The humor develops from his interactions with his boss (Nandita Shenoy) at the financial company where he does risk analysis; his father (Dan Grimaldi); and the man (Christopher Daftsios) who killed Orville’s wife in a drunk driving accident.
Orville falls into humor “accidentally,” Winar said, “magically tripping” into it.
Szymkowicz, who has a popular blog featuring 1,000 interviews with fellow playwrights, said he never really thought about what couples leaving this show would discuss on the car ride home, but he imagines the conversation would include questions like, “What would you do if I died? Would you take revenge? Would you buy a gun? Why or why not?”
“What speaks to me about this play,” Winar said, “is that it’s not loss that defines you. It’s how you deal with the loss.”
Mercy
NJ Repertory Stage
179 Broadway, Long Branch
Tickets: $ 40-70, available online at http://njrep.org. June 14-July 15.
Natalie Pompilio is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She can be reached at nataliepompilio@yahoo.com. Find her on Twitter @nataliepompilio. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.