IDS's "The Good Doctor" Talks Back

Perhaps it's in part because the players knew it was their last production together, but Independent Drama Society really went all out with Neil Simon’s “The Good Doctor.”

From the elaborate costume designs ala Fabian Aguilar’s keen eye for period fashion to the doubling of roles both in front and in back of the house, Director Christine Toohey took her team out on a limb. And, as has consistently been the case with IDS’ ambitious work, the show lands on its feet despite stacked odds and constrained budgets.

“Everyone was so willing to experiment, and I’m really grateful for that,” Toohey said during a post-show talk-back following Sunday’s matinee, admitting she’s been toying with all the various ways the play can be staged for years.

“I’ve wanted to do this play again since I did it in high school," she said. "I love how the characters’ point of view and motivations are made so clear to the audience, not to mention the versatility of it: you can do the show with five people or 30, and any number in between. We went with twelve.”

Simon and Chekhov, Comedy and Tragedy

“The Good Doctor” is a series of eight vignettes divided into two acts, and it’s an unusual work for Neil Simon, who took the early, satiric stories of Russian writer Anton Chekhov and re-imagined them for a New York stage, circa 1973. Simon used Chekhov’s work as a way of inspiring change in his career while simultaneously mourning the loss of his first wife, Joan Baim, to cancer. You might say “The Good Doctor” helped him heal.

“Neil Simon wrote for sitcoms, so he knows it’s all about scenario and delivery,” said Chris Anton, who played a pair of roles in the story-cycle as well as being Production Manager and Assistant Director.

Anton was referring to the fact that the balance of dark and light in Chekhov’s work came through Simon’s stage adaptation with much of the crucial irony built right into it – follow the directions the way they’re laid out and the work comes across. The cast agreed that this helped them with the tricky tightrope of comi-tragedy.

“Comedy is really people put into ridiculous circumstances and then pushed to the extreme,” noted Sierra Kagen, who also played a pair of roles.

Her point is well taken – the moments of hilarious absurdity are plentiful enough (often the product of slightly insane characters) that there’s no mistaking the humorous intent… hysterics, neurotics and other extreme personalities define the show.

“Most of the characters have a truth to them that emerges during the scene,” added Mark Estano, who plays an amateur dental surgeon in one scene that demands an unusual amount of physical comedy. “As an actor, if you’re not pushing one truth or another then the character’s natural truth has room to naturally emerge.” 

Estano went on to say that his work in nursing—particularly the terror of being left to care for a patient by himself for the very first time—helped inform his role.

Making one play from eight stories

Holding “The Good Doctor” together, in part, is the narrative of actor Bob Mussett, cast simply as ‘The Writer’ (perhaps a composite sketch of Chekhov and Simon). Toohey concedes that Mussett is the most obvious through-line, something paramount to the production’s cohesion. But there are others.

“Each piece is about a status interchange—a negotiation,” Toohey pointed out. “All of them encompass a struggle about money, power and/or religion… issues of status.”

“In some ways, it’s really an evening of one-acts,” Mussett said. “In early discussions, we talked about how, in the 1973 version with Christopher Plummer as The Writer, he also played an additional role in almost every scene which helped bring it together for that audience.”

While the cast revealed the numerous ways the play could conceptually hold together, the production’s overall success can only boil down to the elasticity of its versatile players.

“The people involved in the show wanted it this way – all of us wearing different hats and playing multiple roles in the production,” said Melissa deJesus. “Frankly, none of us have the training, so we all learn from each other as we go, and that’s how IDS has lived and breathed.”

“The Good Doctor” continues at 8 p.m. Thursday July 21 and Friday, July 22 at the Factory Theatre, 791 Tremont Street, with two shows at 3 and 8 p.m. to follow on Saturday. Tickets are $20, $15 for students and seniors. Visit www.independentdramasociety.org for more information.