By Michael Buzzelli
Two old friends (Dihlon McManne and David Whalen) meet in a coffee house to discuss old times on the same day they met eight years ago in “Years to the Day.”
The play is a two-hander, a single conversation between two college friends now in their mid-fifties. As they banter and bicker, old grievances come to light, secrets are unburied, hard truths are uncovered.
There is a strange lyricism to their dialogue, even though they speak in generalities, generic versions of the real world. They talk about the “Newest film,” “the Actor DuJour,” and “a parking lot outside of the Bullseye Bargain Store,” instead of giving us defining details. The movie could be anything from “Wicked” to “Megalopolis.” The actor could be anyone with IMDb credit, but the Bullseye Bargain Store is hard to miss.
Whalen’s character is named Jeff. If McManne’s character has a name, it’s never mentioned. We will call him Allen, since the play, written and directed by Allen Barton, is loosely based on a true story from the playwright’s past (“Years to the Day” was originally produced in 2013).
There’s no real plot, but the dynamic conversation doesn’t really need one. It is a treatise on our 20th-century lives where we text instead of talk. It posits the question, “In our modern lives are we really getting face time on Facebook? Are we really linked in on LinkedIn? We might be able to send each other a picture instantly, but are we getting the thousand words behind the photo?”
The stage is bare; two chairs, a table and prop coffee cups. It doesn’t need an elaborate set. There’s not even much movement. It’s mostly Whalen and McManne sitting in their chairs, railing for and against social justice, social media, and social constructs.
The dynamism comes from the actors and their dialogue. Nothing else is needed, providing you have the right actors. Whalen and McManne are superb.
Sidenote: There’s something about McManne that reminded this critic of Simon Farnaby, who plays Julian Fawcett, the pants-less Tory MP on the BBC show “Ghosts” (not the American version).
McManne’s character is adroit and acerbic. Whalen’s character is wise and witty. Two titans clash over coffee.
Barton is able to look at both sides of a coin. Both men are sympathetic, regardless of their political and personal ideologies, considering it’s a momentous task to make a social conservative likeable in this particular political climate.
The play is quick but not breezy at 80 minutes with no intermission.
“Years to the Day” is clever, witty and engaging.
-MB
“Years to the Day” runs until Feb. 23 at the Carnegie Stage, 25 W. Main Street, Carnegie, PA 15106. For more information, click .here.
