To See or Not to See: Lobby Hero

In Lobby Hero, playwright Kenneth Lonergan presents us with everyday, working class people who all are, at their cores, decent human beings; they all, however, make morally questionable decisions.

Jeff (Michael Cera) is a night shift security guard for a New York City apartment building. He’s trying to get his life started after some rough patches, including debt and a Navy discharge, but has been without much ambition so far. His boss, William (Brian Tyree Henry), is the opposite. He is a stickler for the rules as he makes the rounds each night checking in on his staff of guards around the city. He constantly needles Jeff, trying to provoke him into taking charge of his life. Then, there’s Dawn (Bel Powley) and Bill (Chris Evans). Dawn is a new, young cop whose partner, Bill, is a seasoned and well-respected veteran on the force; Dawn is, of course, in love with Bill. Over the course of a few night shifts, their four worlds collide and all of their lives are changed.

Lonergan’s dialogue is fast, funny, and makes you think. With cocky, self-assured Bill, we see how devoted to his brotherhood of cops he is and how he does care for the people around him; we also see the inherent misogyny of a predominately male field. With Dawn, we see how as a female cop, she struggles with sexual harassment and power plays. There’s also a bit of police brutality in there when she has a moment defending herself a little too harshly. With steadfast William, we see societal truths about race and the broken prison system when he is faced with his moral quandary about a quarter of the way into the play. As William says to Jeff, ” All right, let me ask you something, Jeff. Suppose somebody who’s supposed to be near and dear to you was accused of doing some kind of terrible crime, and was trying to use you as an alibi. What would you do, for example, if it was a false alibi?” And, with Jeff, loyalty and truth are put to the test.

Brian Tyree Henry and Chris Evans. Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

Director Trip Cullman does a fantastic job of keeping the ensemble of actors tightly woven together while making the themes of the play come alive in a simply (yet gorgeous) set design by David Rockwell. And, let’s talk about those actors. Each of them found the balance between comedy and gravitas. It is a testament to their work that, as an audience, you both want them to keep their secrets for their own sakes and expose them for the greater good.

Chris Evans inhabited Bill so well that, in a sometimes impossible task, you forgot he was “Chris Evans, a movie star.” Bel Powley did a fine job as Dawn, and, while it took me a bit to warm up to Michael Cera as a former Navy-man, his bumbling persona worked quite well for Jeff. The most stand-out performance, however, was Brian Tyree Henry’s. His ability to channel toughness and ambition along with human fallacy and vulnerability is wonderful.

In short, Lobby Hero is a well-executed, well-acted, and well-written production that is not to be missed.

Lobby Hero, by Second Stage Theater, is running at the Hayes Theater. For more information and tickets, click here.