Review: Square One's 'The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey'

Dedicated to the memory of Jim Duffy, designer of Square One’s Theatre logo, graphics and website design

Stratford, CT - James Lecesne is the author of ‘The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey,’ the play currently running at Square One Theatre in Stratford. The play is based upon his young adult novel Absolute Brightness published in 2008. For those who have read the novel, the playwright noted in an interview that while the novel is told from the point of view of 16-year-old Phoebe, the stage-play is told from the viewpoint of Chuck DeSantis, the small town detective.

The play is at face value a whodunit, but at its heart is so much more. It navigates the effects of bullying and the search for identity, while at the same time telling an uplifting story about love, being true to oneself and overcoming prejudices. And believe it or not, there is plenty of laughter mixed in with the weighty issues in this purely fictional tale.

It is the contemporary story of a town on the Jersey shore where a 14-year-old boy has disappeared. The action of the play is about trying to figure out what happened to him and why. One actor plays each and every one of the people in the town to whom the boy was connected. The play reminds us that we are all connected to one another as the actor demonstrates the effect that one person's life has on many other people.

While we never actually meet Leonard Pelkey, we come to know him as Alexander Kulcsar portrays the investigating detective, a withdrawn teenaged girl and her mother, a brusque hairdresser, and a dozen other characters. The Square One Theatre production was expertly directed by Artistic Director Tom Holehan. Mr. Holehan is a co-founder of the CT Critics Circle and has directed all 81 productions for Square One since its inception in 1990.

The story itself is an engrossing one that is worth the effort to follow the clues to the resolution of the crime. Watching Mr. Kulscar switch between these characters was mesmerizing, especially when two of them were having a conversation. With minimal props and no costume changes, we always knew who was who and were able to following along the tale of the tough talking detective. As the tale unfolds, we want to know what happened to the boy, but, not surprisingly, lingering questions remain in the end.

Mr. Kulscar is the all-time record holder of the theatre’s Subscriber Awards, winning a total of nine times for his leading roles in Square One productions. He lists 20 different Square One credits in his program bio, in addition to many other credits at area theatres. This extensive experience on the stage clearly came into play in this demanding role. I found his performance to be a tad more subtle than that of the playwrights, but no less effective.

The simple set designed by Robert Mastroni featured a whiteboard with the detective’s web of case notes that proved helpful to the audience as the story unfolded. There were a few very different chairs used by the various characters and the requisite table with the numbered pieces of evidence. Lighting designed by Clifford Fava added much to the performance and the costume (singular) was coordinated by Gaetana Grinder and Kerry Lambert. Sound design was by Don Henault.

I highly recommend this production of what I think is a very well-written piece at an affordable price. Performances are presented in an intimate black box theatre on the stage at the Johnson House of the Stratford Academy, an arts magnet school located on Birdseye Street in Stratford. The school is next to the Victoria Soto School.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues and she posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and Connecticut Theater Previews and on Twitter @nancysjanis417