Austin Winter and Cody Jolly in The Nerd (photo by Jenna Darcy Photography)
It must be summer again, because I’m back to making the trek upstate to Timber Lake’s cozy playhouse in the woods. And as directed by Jay Berkow, their 2024 opener, The Nerd, is a crowd-pleasing comedy that features strong performances and solid jokes.
Written by Larry Shue, The Nerd originally debuted in 1979. It ran for more than a year on Broadway, and had a wildly successful run on the West End, though it was never a recipient of high critical acclaim or Tony and Olivier Awards, let alone nominations. But that’s okay, because this piece of theatre has more interest in making you laugh as opposed to pushing you out of your comfort zone. The plot is a little convoluted, but it’s all in service of giggles.
Our protagonist Willum Cubbert (Luke Pengelly) is an uptight architect who’s forgotten what grass even is, let alone that it’s greener on the other side. He has two dear friends who may as well be roommates for as often as they’re present in his home: Axel Hammond (Austin Winter) and Tansy McGinnis (Dana Kreitz). Tansy is a career-minded woman pursuing a job as a weather forecaster; Axel is a drama critic who misses the last half-hour of every show he attends so that he can meet his editor’s unforgiving deadlines. The architect is hosting a birthday shindig to impress his client (Matthew Van Gessel), who also brings along his wife (Brie McClellan) and their bratty son (played on differing nights by Ryker Robinson and Noah Query). This client has an ass so tight he could turn coals into diamonds, while his wife has a penchant for breaking dishware in order to take the edge off. Everyone falls into that comedic trope of being plausibly believable but also wildly neurotic.
Everyone, that is, except the titular nerd Rick Steadman (Cody Jolly), who is unbelievably insufferable and arrives relatively uninvited. Shue's script asks the question “Hey, what if The Odd Couple was about one person who’s well-grounded and another who should be court-ordered to live in solitude?” Every faux pas you could conceive is breached here as the nerd (who, interestingly enough, is never referred to as such) grafts himself into every facet of Willum’s life. Picture an early-season Steve Urkel from Family Matters and you’ll get the idea. The humor comes from both Rick’s antics as well as the central “problem” of the show. Willum served in Vietnam, got shot, and was ultimately saved by Rick, who was also shot in the process. Consequently, Willum owes his life to this decorated war hero, and as a result, bends his back to the breaking point in order to accommodate him.
Berkow's entire cast is delightful and does a fantastic job of perpetually upping both the ante and energy as the play proceeds. Pengelly does a fine job of balancing his character’s good intentions with utter obliviousness. Winter has some wry humor and gets some of the script's best jokes. As is unfortunately typical of older comedies, the women don’t get nearly as much fun stuff to do as their counterparts, but Kreitz and McClellan both bring their A-games and wring solid laughs out of what they have to work with. And Jolly brings the house down as The Nerd's nerd. He’s clearly having a blast being as annoying as possible, and some of his movement and line-reading choices are truly inspired. But Van Gessel was my personal favorite on Friday, as he brought a fantastic physicality to the role. He was so angry by the end of the shenanigans that I could see the actor shaking, his physicality making the crowd burst into laughter.
On the production side of things, there’s applause to go around. Berkow keeps the action focused and kinetic throughout the entire evening, with only one noticeable moment of blocking requiring some rather heavy suspension of disbelief. Designer Spencer Donovan's set is expansive and striking, perfectly conveying a house you would expect a '70s architect to own. And the costume design by Rachel McElwain gets the job done, accurately capturing the vibe of the show's era.
A few of Timber Lake’s traditional body-mic issues reared their heads during Friday’s performance, but they were the only hiccups on the production side of things. And while I wish I could say they were the only things that marred my enjoyment of the evening, I was, alas, wedged between two couples who talked throughout the entire performance. One couple had the delightful habit of trying to guess punchlines as they were happening, while the other couple was as befuddled as could be, constantly asking one another “What’s happening now?” “Who’s he?” “What’d he say?” “Why’s he doing that?” It felt a bit like having a Statler and Waldorf in both ears which, if anything, added a really immersive edge to the proceedings. By the time our hero finally kicked the nerd out of his life and home, I was cheering for the cathartic release of excising such grating neighbors.
Yet that audience-specific circumstance was hardly the show's fault. The Nerd is a strong start to the 2024 season for Timber Lake, as well as a pleasant evening of theatre. It’s bound to make you laugh … and do you need any more than that to justify a night out?
The Nerd runs at the Timber Lake Playhouse (8215 Black Oak Road, Mt. Carroll IL) through June 9, and more information and tickets are available by calling (815)244-2035 or visiting TimberLakePlayhouse.org.
