You shouldn't judge a play by its synopsis. Or at least not by the few words that might appear in a calendar listing. In the case of Between Riverside and Crazy, you could be un-enticed by something like this: "A bitter ex-cop fights to stay in his rent-controlled apartment while also dealing with a son recently released from prison." Quick, line up the babysitter. But as airless as that summary may sound, Stephen Adly Guirgis' play is full of life, laughter, redemption, and more than its fair share of surprises.
Not that the quality of the play should be a surprise; it did win the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for drama. And previous Guirgis plays, including The Motherfucker with a Hat, have been popular with local audiences. What may be a surprise is how Guirgis, born of an Egyptian father and an Irish American mother, so freely enters into worlds where African Americans are central characters. But in the case of Between Riverside and Crazy, race is something of a MacGuffin, as Hitchcock would say, an issue that seems to be at the forefront but is a diversionary tactic as the story's layers are peeled back.
ACT is offering the area premiere of Guirgis' play, and it's one of the best productions seen at the Geary Theater in some time. Director Irene Lewis has a sure handle on the play's rhythms and guides her cast to maximize the impact, humorous and otherwise, of the material. And it's a first-rate cast, headed by Carl Lumbly, who is outstanding as Walter "Pops" Washington. He's a retired policeman, recently widowed, who is suing the police department rather than taking a settlement after he was shot by a fellow officer eight years before. Pops is black, the other officer was white, and race may have played a hand. But matters are never black-and-white in this play.
Walter is the definition of a grumpy old man, a familiar enough type, but Guirgis provides the character with a wickedly sly humor that Lumbly delivers with precisely the right flavor. And Lumbly, as Pops, is dealing with all sorts of issues beyond the festering lawsuit. Most important is his effort to stay in his spacious rent-controlled apartment despite the landlord's maneuverings to get him out. Also in residence on Riverside Drive are Junior, his aimless, just-out-of-prison son (Samuel Ray Gates); Lulu, Junior's pregnant girlfriend, who probably was a hooker (Elia Monte-Brown); and Oswaldo, Junior's ex-con buddy, who offers unwelcome tips on healthy eating (Lakin Valdez). Coffee and whiskey are Walter's preferred nutrients.
The play ambles awhile in slice-of-life fashion, always flavored by Walter's sardonic edge, before what develops into the crucial narrative is introduced. It seems to be a social call from Walter's former partner on the force (Stacy Ross) and her fiance (Gabriel Marin), an ambitious police lieutenant. Walter susses out their true agenda, and how he eventually outsmarts them is one of the play's jaw-dropping twists. Another of those moments comes during a visit from the "church lady" (Catherine Castellanos) with a message of spiritual uplift that proves uplifting in unexpected ways.
Christopher Barreca's set has just the right touch of a once-handsome apartment worn down by neglect, with Candice Donnelly's costumes and Seth Reiser's lighting adding to the fine-tuned look of this production. Between Riverside and Crazy takes us on a circuitous journey to a happy ending of sorts, if not for all the characters, at least where it counts most. Just don't try to summarize it in 50 words or less.
Between Riverside and Crazy will run at the Geary Theater through Sept. 27. Tickets are $20-$100. Call (415) 749-2228 or go to act-sf.org.