The final play of Dezart Performs season is THE GARBOLOGISTS by Lindsay Joelle; a comedy-drama making its West Coast debut. It bears the trappings of many a rom-com: He does not seem to care for her, she definitely does not seem to care for him, personal tensions mix with workplace tensions and lots of sharply humorous bickering occurs between the two. Marlowe (Nathalie Bennett) is a just-hired garbage truck driver trainee assigned to ride with the experienced Danny (Jacob Alden Roa), who is there to teach her everything there is to know about being a trash collector. Almost immediately the two begin to clash over just about everything; a sure sign that they actually like each other, it’s just that they don’t know it yet. From Danny, Marlowe learns about the written and unwritten rules of being with the NY Department of Sanitation. In moments throughout the day, we learn about the personal backstory of each driver and how difficult their lives have been. So, although they are apparently from very different backgrounds (she’s a well-educated Afro-American and he is a typical blue collar from the good-old-boy school,) it becomes obvious that underneath the more superficial differences they are, in many ways, very much alike. We also learn several other valuable lessons especially the truth in the saying “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”
Michael Shaw has directed the two performers with his usual insightful style giving the more dramatic surprises the space they need to score while keeping things moving at a clip that prevents the play from slipping into the melodramatic. Both Ms. Bennett and Mr. Roa deliver performances that make their characters believable people rather than cliched stereotypes. You care about both of them and in this play that is crucial.
Jimmy Cuomo’s clever set, lit by Phil Murphy’s excellent lighting design, lets us be voyeurs as we watch them through the truck’s windshield. In splitting the truck into two parts, we also observe them dealing with the trash and the mechanisms of the vehicle’s collection equipment at the rear of the truck.
It’s not a perfect play but it is a very enjoyable one from a playwright who will most likely continue honing and improving her craft with many new plays to come. THE GARBOLOGISTS is playing through April 23, 2023 at the Pearl McManus Theatre. For tickets or for more information visit their website at www.dezartperforms.org