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Published on 6/17/08
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Survey
Superheroes, May-September romance and grief mix unconvincingly in Substitution, Anton Dudley’s exploration of how we move forward after the death of a loved one. Like Jenny Schwartz’s currently running God’s Ear, Substitution examines how words fail as we mourn, focusing on a woman (the excellent Maxwell), who lost her teen son in a freak boating accident.
While Schwartz maintains a consistent tone of sad absurdism in her play, Dudley careens between metaphysical symbolism and made-for-TV bathos. One day, as Calvin’s mom (as the character is identified) visits the makeshift shrine that was erected to honor the students who died on that school trip, she meets Paul (empathetically played by Kiernan Campion), a hyper and talkative young substitute teacher who had a surprisingly strong bond with Calvin. An amateur grief counselor, Paul wants to help, but Calvin’s mom will have none of it. Despite this, the two are (rather improbably) drawn to one another. Even as their conflicted relationship unfolds, Dudley’s play flashes back to the bus ride that took Calvin’s class to the lake. There, two of his classmates (ably played by Shana Dowdeswell and Brandon Espinoza), dressed as eco-friendly superheroes per their teacher’s instruction, dis their classmates and give in to romantic feelings for one another. While this awkward romance charms, the adults’ tortured tango feels strained. So does Dudley’s attempt at an uplifting ending, a poor substitute for real catharsis.
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