The Prisoner of Second Avenue
 by Neil Simon



Directed and Designed by Lon Winston



CAST

Michael Miller
Valerie Haugen
Richard Lyon
Cara Daniel
Cindy Hines
Kristin Carlson

TRTC actors keep laughs coming in ‘Prisoner’
By Trina Ortega
The Valley Journal

Many have said that Neil Simon’s dark comedy “The Prisoner of Second Avenue” is as relevant today as when it first ran on Broadway in 1971. With its tremendous talent in the summer production of “Prisoner,” the Thunder River Theatre Company succeeds at making this so.


Tony Award-winning playwright Simon is a master of drawing humor from the troubles of everyday people. “Prisoner” also makes us laugh at the ironies of life.

The comedy-drama is about a New York City executive, Mel Edison, played by TRTC’s Michael Miller, whose life crumbles around him after he loses his job at age 47. Just an arm’s length away is his problem-solving companion, Edna, played by TRTC Associate Artistic Director Valerie Haugen.

Miller plays the role of Mel superbly, setting the mood with his incessant griping at 2:30 in the morning about everything from the noisy flight attendant neighbors to the smells of the city. We feel Mel’s stress — palms almost sweating — as he paces, sighs and groans: “It’s everything. … It’s this apartment. … It’s this city.”

Miller acts the part so well we immediately label Mel a stubborn whiner who complains about how expensive everything is, right down to the tiny pillow and armchair he’s sitting on.

Meanwhile, the audience embraces Haugen’s Edna as she bends over backward trying to help Mel. Living up to her reputation, Haugen does a wonderful job at creating a character that is loyal and patient if not a bit patronizing, babying her husband and agreeing that graham crackers may have made him sick. She is tireless in offering solutions, and we admire her for this.

What neither Edna nor the audience know in the opening scene is that Mel lost his job four days earlier and this is just the onset of a nervous breakdown.

Haugen and Miller carry the play, convincing the audience that although theirs is not an idyllic romance, this troubled couple absolutely need each other to survive. At the close of the first act, we see the strong and reliable Edna comforting the weak and hurting Mel. She goes so far as to use the expensive chair pillow to wipe his forehead to calm him (after a comical water attack by a neighbor).

The second act opens with Mel’s nervous breakdown worsening, aggravated by Edna getting a job and becoming the breadwinner; being sedated while under the care of a therapist; and a visit from his estranged siblings who’ve come to help (a hilarious scene).

Those of us with brothers and sisters can relate easily, thanks to actors Cara Daniel, Cindy Hines, Kristin Carlson and TRTC’s Richard Lyon, who brilliantly portray the bickering, sensitive siblings. The family is essentially there to save Mel from personal destruction, but the sisters argue about whether the eldest brother, Harry, drinks coffee. That one fact is not crucial to the plot but is important to convey the family’s idiosyncrasies.

And that is where TRTC accomplishes more. The minor issues are ones we can all grasp, understand, and therefore laugh about. The play makes us feel OK to laugh because we’ve all experienced similar situations. It would seem wrong to focus on these trivial issues, but with their rhythmic delivery, the actors make us laugh every time they bring it up.

Despite the challenge of presenting a production that primarily features only two actors and one set, TRTC Artistic Director Lon Winston does an excellent job of living up to Simon’s intent with a fluid pace in dialogue and sharp comic timing. Never do you feel the actors waiting for a laugh from the audience. Haugen and Miller and the supporting TRTC cast play off each other consistently and keep the laughs coming as they obsess over those seemingly minor issues.

In the end, we come to realize that maybe it’s easier to laugh about life’s dramas as we face them head on.




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