John McGivern Stars in Marcus Center’s ‘Bunk Bed Brothers’

Matt Goldman and Pat Hazell’s Bunk Bed Brothers presents a light comedy about two baby-boomerbrothers who return to their childhood home to spend the night in the bedroomthey used to share. The substance of their childhood has been largelypreserved, as the bedroom looks just as it did when they left home. In turn,the brothers begin to pick up their childhood where it left off decades ago,forcing them to figure out exactly what to do with it. The play comes to Milwaukee in a productiondirected by Hazell and featuring John McGivern and Christopher Tarjan.

There’s an interesting energy floating around theproduction’s upstairs rehearsal space in the Marcus Center. The area is filled with authentic baby-boomer-eraprops: a rubber ape mask, old albums, a fake hand.

McGivern and Tarjan will likely provide plenty oflaughs in this accessible comedy, especially since the two have worked togetheron numerous occasions over the years. This time they’re working under thedirection of one of the playwrights, Pat Hazell, who previously worked withMcGivern on The Wonder Bread Years.The current project flips the usualroles for McGivern and Tarjan, with McGivern now playing the more staid of thetwo characters. When asked if audiences might have difficulty accepting him ina different role, McGivern takes a reassuring tone.

“He’s a lot like [me] really,” McGivern says of thecharacter, adding that audiences will end up thinking, “Oh, that’s John justkind of relaxing.”

Tarjan welcomes the opportunity to work on a piecethat is straight-ahead comedy. Hazell, who started off in stand-up comedy, hasan understanding of the rhythm of humor, which has made the project even moreenjoyable for McGivern and Tarjan. The two veteran actors will be joined byfrequent Rep actor Richard Halverson in the role of their father. Halverson’sability to maximize limited lines and stage time should aid the production aswell.

Bunk BedBrothers runs Oct. 7 through Nov. 15 at the Marcus Center.