Riveting performances bring 'Frankie and Johnny' to life

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble's revival of Terrence McNally's "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune" is a little gem.

The set is simple: All of the action takes place in one small New York apartment. And the story is even simpler: Two middle-aged characters, a waitress and cook, spend a night together talking, fighting, and, ultimately, coming to grips with who they are, who they might be to each other and what they want for the future.

Yet the play is utterly absorbing. In part this is because McNally has woven such a believable and moving story. Not a line of dialogue feels fake, not a turn in the tale feels forced. But much of the success of the play, both in Buffalo Theatre Ensemble's subtle, finely performed revival, and in other productions lies in how much McNally gives his actors to work with in creating this pair on stage.

No wonder actors of the caliber of Kathy Bates and Kenneth Welsh (who were the original cast) and Edie Falco and Stanley Tucci (who appeared in the 2002 Broadway revival) come out of the woodwork to do this play.

You can tell the two actors in this show (Amelia Barrett and Bryan Burke) relish their roles. They perform without a slip. From the moment the play begins, we like these two. And we catch them in an uncomfortable period: It's clear they've hit it off, but unclear whether they have a future together.

Barrett is especially good at playing Frankie's prickly insecurities. She has loved and lost so many times, she can't believe Johnny when he seems to really like her. Much of the power of her performance comes from the subtle way she communicates first her certainty that Johnny is not serious, then her fear that he is - and, finally, her conflicting emotions. She both wants him to stay and to go.

Likewise, Burke plays off Barrett well, helping to build the energy in this piece. These two are on stage for nearly two hours straight (with a short intermission), and they are utterly riveting from start to finish.

Director Connie Canaday Howard clearly deserves praise for this graceful production, although her direction is so unobtrusive and finely done you could be fooled into thinking Barrett and Burke did it on their own. Or, at their best, that these two actually were Frankie and Johnny, transported to Glen Ellyn to tell their stories.

Live theater doesn't come much better than this.