Milwaukee Chamber Theatre finds ‘The Good Father’

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With the strains of U2’s “New Year’s Day” in the background, Tim (Jonathan Wainwright) and Jane (Laura Gray) end up alone together at their friend’s New Year’s Eve party. Set in contemporary Ireland, the two have little in common. But there’s something about the passing of one year to the next that throws opposites together. And despite the song’s refrain of “nothing changes on New Year’s Day,” much is about to change in the lives of this unlikely couple in Christian O’Reilly’s intimate two-character play, The Good Father. The Midwest premiere opened last weekend at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre under the thoughtful direction of Artistic Director C. Michael Wright. 

After ringing in the New Year with a drunken one-night stand, Jane finds herself pregnant and Tim is the baby’s daddy. However, the two come from different backgrounds and barely know each other. While the plotline sounds all too familiar, O’Reilly throws in “the fact” that Tim had been diagnosed as infertile a year earlier. What we believe to be the truth really doesn’t matter as we watch the growing emotional connection between the two as the baby bump gets bigger. And that is due in large part to the natural chemistry and underlying emotional interplay between Gray and Wainwright.

Since the play is written from Tim’s perspective, ironically, it’s Wainwright who really gives us a fully realized caricature of this simple but loving man.

Gray’s Jane has been written as reactive, even in two highly coincidental plot turns (no spoilers here). But her cynical outlook turns into an inner glow given Tim’s steady, unwavering support. In The Good Father, life and love can begin anew when we least expect it, yet learn to treasure it when it finds us.

Through Oct. 12 in the Studio Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway. For tickets, call 414-291-7800 or visit milwaukeechambertheatre.com.