Hard-edged satire mixes with lighter humor in Rich Orloff’s Big Boys. Next Act Theatre stages this comedic take on big business in the small, cozy space of the Tenth Street Theatre. Rick Rasmussen’s set makes the executive’s office seem absurdly huge, as smokestacks rise into the distant background beyond an office that appears to stretch out forever.
David Cecsarini plays Victor Burlington, a humorously unscrupulous executive in charge of a big corporation. As the comedy opens, he hires a promising underling, a nice guy named Norm Waterbury (Norman Moses). The sharp implications about power and corruption are softened by crude humor and well-tuned wordplay.
Victor Burlington is seen interacting with offstage underlings and a potted plant. At one point he’s on the phone with Santa Claus; later, he talks to god over the phone. As scripted, the character comes across as both powerful and vulnerable. Cecsarini carefully manages a performance that makes his character intimidating and comical. Selling both edges of the performance involves Cecsarini bouncing back and forth between being coolly psychotic and tensely emotional.
As Norm Waterbury, Norman Moses takes a long journey from the beginning of the play to the end. He’s a nice guy who ends up working for an unscrupulous businessman. The corruption resulting from that kind of power allows Moses to switch gears into a role that is more comically sinister. By the end, circumstances have turned him into something else entirely. Moses’ sympathetic stage presence throughout the play balances an engaging, funny dynamic.
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Next Act Theatre’s production of Big Boys runs through Feb. 13 at the Tenth Street Theatre. For tickets, call 414-278-0765.
