Theater Review: 'Lenny's Dead' at Hole in the Wall Theater

Review by Connecticut Critics Circle member and Naugatuck Patch Neighbor Nancy Sasso Janis

Hole in the Wall Theater hosted two performances of a staged reading of “Lenny’s Dead” this weekend. I was glad that I am grateful that I was able to attend the Sunday matinee at the intimate venue in New Britain.

“Lenny’s Dead” is a play in one act that was written by the late Plymouth playwright Alex Giacin.
In 2008, Giacin’s original work won first prize in competition at the Connecticut Playwright Project at the Thomaston Opera House. Following this, the play underwent extensive revisions, including that of the title, and was accepted by the New York International Fringe Festival.

The play is described as a one act play that shares the story of Lenny and Hank, comrades in arms who cannot manage to separate, despite the fact that Lenny is dead. The two characters revisit their childhoods, their youth and finally, Lenny’s death as they tell their tale, seeking “closure” and answers to their questions.

At the 2010 Fringe Festival, the work was a two character show and was directed by John Long of Torrington, with the author in the role of Hank and local performer Rob Richnavsky in the title role. The two portrayed not only Hank and Lenny, but also numerous characters from their childhoods, families, army training and days fighting in Vietnam. The promotional materials noted that “the true star of the piece becomes their relationship and the story that they have to tell.”

Giacin’s granddaughter Emma Turcotte wrote the author’s program biography, describing her “Papa” as a true jack of all trades, a kind and humble person, and a loving husband, father, and grandfather. Before his death in 2016 at the age of 65, “he had been an ingrained part of local Connecticut theatre productions for over a decade, starting in 2002 in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ getting involved in every part of the process and making friends/building community along the way.”

Turcotte remembers that towards the end of his life, her grandfather took an interest in a yet untapped pathway, that of playwriting and “Lenny’s Dead” was born. “His own experiences inspired the show–despite reporting to the draft board twice, he never went to Vietnam. His guilt at seeing friends return home from the war having lost a piece of themselves drove him to ‘exorcise his demons’ and write” this play. It became a passion project that underwent many revisions, some made with the help of John Long.

The script, a storytelling play, tells a spellbinding tale of the aftermath of the Vietnam War, and one veteran navigating severe PTSD. Hank is trapped in his mind in a seemingly never-ending loop as he relives the trauma and survivor’s guilt that followed him home from the combat.

“At the ten year anniversary of his passing,” Turcotte adds, “Alex would be so honored to have anybody revive his show, but there’s something extra special about having everybody involved in both showings being someone near and dear to him.”

The Hole in the Wall staged reading presented the three-person version, in which a third actor takes on many of the supporting roles. Kate Stango, who counts Turcotte as her best friend for over a decade, directed the talented cast in her first solo directorial experience.

Ms. Stango met Alex Giacin while performing in “Working” with Goshen Players when she was 11 years of age. Giacin correctly predicted that she and his similarly aged granddaughter would be great friends. Stango writes “when Emma approached me several months ago and said that she had recently come into possession of her grandfather’s scripts for his play, we knew we wanted to keep his work alive and celebrate him.” This staged reading, the result of only four rehearsals, was a wonderful testament to Giacin’s well-polished script.

The talented cast for the stage reading included the directors’ dad Chuck Stango in the role of Hank and Terry Fables as the dead title character. Steven Close covered seven ancillary characters that help to drive the action.

The elder Stango, who is most often seen in comedic or song-and-dance roles, shines in the role of Vietnam veteran Hank. Because the beginning of the script draws the audience into the story with plenty of gentle comedy, Mr. Stango got to show off a bit of his wonderful comic timing before diving into the heavier subject matter. He captured the psychological angst of his character trying to escape his cycle of reliving the trauma.

I was so impressed with the performance by Terry Fables as Lenny and other guys from Hank’s past. We could easily tell when the actor had slipped into another character, sometimes with the help of a small costume change. The actor was required to drop and do some push-ups and easily performed that stage direction.

Steven Close effectively juggled his many supporting roles, thoughtfully morphing into the characters dubbed “Father Figure” in the program.

The sound design was implemented as written by the playwright and included some well-chosen songs from the Vietnam War era and important sound cues. Content warnings for this hard-hitting work include references to gun violence, loud gunshot noises and some strong language, so viewer discretion is advised.

The matinee, which ran about 65 minutes. was followed by a talk-back that included the three actors and their director, as well as Rob and Tori Richnavsky (stage manager) from the original production of this work. The original director John Long was unable to attend but did provide Ms. Stango with information about the original production of the play. I would love to see this important work in its full form on an area stage in the future.