MIKE PETERS
From left, Victoria Pollack, Susan Ferrara and Jennifer Leigh Houston co-star in Premiere Stages’ production of “The Mallard.”
The title of “The Mallard” — Vincent Delaney’s new play, which Premiere Stages is currently presenting at Kean University in Union, in its world premiere — refers to a hunting decoy that characters describe, more than once, as a “hunk of wood.” But there is more to it, of course, than that.
To Freya, a second-grade schoolteacher living in a run-down home in the Midwest, it is a cherished gift from her late father. And to Reagan and Davis — yard sale enthusiasts from New York who travel around the country, looking for bargains — it is a treasure that could make them rich.
But can they get the stubborn Freya to sell it?
That is the central question of this 90-minute, one-act play (the winner of Premiere Stages’ 2024 Premiere Play Festival), which combines moments of broad comedy with a sweet and topically meaningful love story. Directed by John J. Wooten (Premiere Stages’ producing artistic director), it has memorable, sharply sketched characters, and makes for a lively, fast-moving 90 minutes, with a couple of good twists toward the end.
“What makes life worth living?,” Delaney ultimately seems to be asking, though he goes about exploring this big question in a way that never seems heavy-handed.
Most of the play takes place in the yard in front of the home that Freya (Susan Ferrara) and her wife Gillian (Jennifer Leigh Houston), also a schoolteacher, share. The house is in dire need of a paint job, and the ugly old dresses, leopard-print slippers and other stuff that they are trying to sell looks like junk that no one could possibly want.
“One Day Only. Do Not Miss This Sale,” reads a sign they have put up, but this seems more like a far-fetched ploy to generate interest, than anything else.
MIKE PETERS
Woodrow Proctor and Victoria Pollack in “The Mallard.”
They are not exactly over-run with customers. But one, named Davis (Woodrow Proctor), shows up, and finds the mallard. He wants to buy it, and haggles a bit with Gillian over the price, but Freya steps in and abruptly nixes the deal, declaring the mallard not for sale and bringing it inside the house.
Gillian, still hopeful that she can persuade Freya to part with the mallard, asks Davis to come back in an hour, and he agrees to do so. While he is away, he tells his wife Reagan (Victoria Pollack) the exciting news. The mallard is basically their holy grail: A rare work by a renowned artisan that could be worth millions.
Davis and Reagan return to Gillian and Freya’s house and resume the bargaining, but there are more complications, including the surprise appearance, at the house, of their arch-nemesis on the yard-sale trail: Arthur Morley (Eddie Gouveia Blackman), who, quite improbably, (1) happens to live in this small town, unbeknownst to Davis and Reagan, and (2) is on the school board that is considering firing both Gillian and Freya, because they are lesbians. He is a slimy operator, and loves taunting Davis and Reagan; he also, of course, recognizes the value of the mallard, and is confident that he can beat them out on the purchase.
Three monologues serve as breaks from the action, but add vital context to the story.
Davis is seen giving a talk about the exquisite beauty of the decoy. This helps because, honestly, we see the work of art itself, and it doesn’t seem all that extraordinary, but it is easier to believe in its value after hearing Davis get so rapturous about it.
We see Freya’s speech to the school board, in which she not only gives us the background we need to understand why the mallard means so much to her, but speaks, profoundly, of her love of teaching, and for Gillian. This is, by far, the most affecting part of the play. “I will not pretend she doesn’t exist,” Freya says, of Gillian. “We are as God made us. And our love has always been real.”
MIKE PETERS
Eddie Gouveia Blackman in “The Mallard.”
Also, Morley breaks the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience in a smarmy, conspirational tone, leaving no doubt that he is, essentially, a huckster.
The characters are a little too cartoonish for my taste, especially the whiny, neurotic Davis and the driven-to-succeed Reagan. We are not exactly rooting for them to obtain the mallard. Reagan, especially, seems willing to cross certain moral boundaries in order to get what she wants.
Even though we see these two, at first, as sophisticated urbanites, sneering at the modest lifestyle of the small-town schoolteachers (“What a wonderfully rural mix,” Reagan says, sarcastically, upon first viewing the yard sale), Delaney eventually cuts them down a notch, showing that their pursuit of an impossible dream — a big score on the yard-sale circuit — has caused them to make questionable choices, in their life.
Both couples are seen as desperate. But in Reagan and Davis’ case, it is because they are, essentially, fools. When it comes to Freya and Gillian, it is because heartless people have been cruel to them.
And Morley? He’s not desperate at all. He’s calm and sure of himself, at all times. We have no doubt that whatever happens with the mallard, he will be fine. A good con man always finds a way to land on his feet.
Premiere Stages will present “The Mallard” at The Bauer Boucher Theatre Center at Kean University in Union, through Aug. 3. Visit premierestagesatkean.com.
_________________________________________
CONTRIBUTE TO NJARTS.NET
Since launching in September 2014, NJArts.net, a 501(c)(3) organization, has become one of the most important media outlets for the Garden State arts scene. And it has always offered its content without a subscription fee, or a paywall. Its continued existence depends on support from members of that scene, and the state’s arts lovers. Please consider making a contribution of any amount to NJArts.net via PayPal, or by sending a check made out to NJArts.net to 11 Skytop Terrace, Montclair, NJ 07043.
