Early in Steve Henderson’s two-character dramedy Jerry and Ed, Jerry gives us a summary of his relationship with his pal Ed, and of his own character, too: “Did you ever have a friend who always seemed to get you into trouble? Well, so did Ed.”
Jerry and Ed is a sequel to Henderson’s one-man play with the painfully punny title Jerry Atric. A screwball adventure with a tender heart, equal parts hijinks and poignancy, it was performed last weekend as a season-appetizer for Silverthorne Theater Company, the Valley’s newest summer stage.
Jerry is a scalawag, a scheme-spinner and troublemaker who’s always looking for a good time and an outrageous angle. Ed is a go-along, get-along kind of guy, often embarrassed by, and just as often for, his friend. As Ed puts it, “For Jerry, life is a runaway train loaded with explosives — and horse manure.”
We find the two best friends and old war buddies passing their last days in the Golden Garden Acres retirement community. In an opening monologue that’s almost a stand-up routine (“I’m so old I can hide my own Easter eggs”), Jerry tells us that when he moved into the facility he declared himself Minister of Fun. He organizes mixers and dances, flirts with the old ladies, and only half-jokingly offers to arrange a strip-bingo night.
In flashbacks, we see that the two have been pals since high school, when they awkwardly double-dated the girls they would later marry, and inseparable friends since Ed saved Jerry’s life in the trenches of World War II by taking a bullet for him. He keeps a limp as a souvenir. The twin arcs of the piece are Jerry’s need to repay Ed for his heroism, and Ed’s slow decline in the mists of Alzheimer’s. Recollections of the past intersect with Ed’s progressive loss of present-day memories.
Henderson wrote the part of Jerry for himself, and was joined in this revival by another old pro, J.T. Waite. The production was directed by Dick Volcker and staged in Silverthorne’s new venue, the Sloan Theater at Greenfield Community College.
Silverthorne mounts another pre-season teaser — The Dead Cow Mystery, a gourmet dinner-theater whodunit with a local environmental twist — on April 18. Summer promises a three-play season including The Skin of Our Teeth, Thornton Wilder’s surreal trip through the eons, an Arab-American romantic comedy, Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World, and the still-to-be-announced winner of Silverthorne’s new-play competition. For info visit www.silverthornetheater.org.•
Chris Rohmann is at StageStruck@crocker.com and valleyadvocate.com/category/columns/
