by Christine Sarkes

Between Riverside and Crazy, the 2015 Pulitzer Prize winning play for drama showing at Park Square Theatre, is a deeply evocative, thought-provoking mosaic of life’s chaos and joys, unfolding within the walls of a New York City apartment. It is a powerfully acted production dealing with such heady, relevant themes as racism, police corruption, father-wounding, complex familial relationships, substance abuse and petty crime. This is an important, gritty and nuanced play with beautiful performances that should not be missed.

The play centers on the overbearing personality of former cop, recent widower and family patriarch, Walter “Pops” Washington (Emil Herrera), who, with his recently paroled son Junior (Darius Dotch), struggles to hold on to one of the last rent-stabilized apartments on gentrifying Riverside Drive. The apartment, which was cleverly designed to evoke both comfort and neglect, is also home to Junior’s scantily clad and love-starved girlfriend Lulu (Isabella Dunsieth), and fellow parolee Oswaldo (José Sabillon), who struggles with sobriety and his own damaged relationships. It soon emerges that Walter, who is Black, is pressing a civil suit against the city over his shooting by a White rookie cop eight years earlier, while his landlord threatens eviction over lease violations, including Junior’s stolen goods schemes. Walter’s life is further complicated when his former N.Y.P.D. partner, Detective O’Connor (Laura Esping), and her fiancé, Lieutenant Caro (Terry Hempleman), come to dinner and attempt to talk him into settling the civil suit. Walter reacts to the drama surrounding him with a mixture of alcohol-soaked profanity, defiance, orneriness, self-loathing, humor and cruelty. There is love and kindness, but it is reluctantly given and often transactional. A visit by an exotic new church lady (Kiko Laureano) dramatically impacts Walter’s life and leads to the play’s ultimate resolution.

The play’s themes provide actors with a rich foundation for layered, impactful performances—an opportunity they each seize masterfully. Herrera’s complex portrayal of “Pops” felt authentic and genuine. Sabillon gives his character a wired, twitchy and raw realness. Dotch portrays the son with a devoted but resentful demeanor. Dunsieth’s Lulu is simultaneously deeply vulnerable and comically self-assured. Esping is convincing as the earnest and loyal friend and Laureano is starkly seductive as Walter’s spiritual guide. Hempleman’s portrayal of a White, privileged man who twists words and emotions to charm, manipulate and threaten was powerful and wrenching to watch.

Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis, directed by Stephen DiMenna, assistant director Maje Adams, stage manager Keara J. Lavandowska, set designer Benjamin Olsen, at Park Square Theatre, now through June 8, 20 West 7th Place, Saint Paul. Tickets are students (under 18): $25; seniors: $50; adults: $60, available at parksquaretheatre.org, by email at tickets@parksquaretheatre.org or by calling the box office at 651.291.7005. Content Advisory: Harsh and explicit language; an intense (fully clothed) intimate scene; depictions of cannabis use.