'Cyclone' falls in step with past successes

The raging tempest of New Jersey trailer park culture comes to life in full 9 mm-toting, Maker’s Mark-guzzling, dog-poisoning color with Montana Rep Missoula’s newest production, “Cyclone,” on stage at the Crystal Theatre this week.

Emotions run hot and high in Ron Fitzgerald’s 2005 off-Broadway stage drama, an excellent ender for MRM’s 2007-08 season. True to its name, “Cyclone” promises a relentless wash of love, anger, pain and betrayal over a near two-hour stretch. The title character is, more fittingly still, an ocean-side roller coaster. 

“Cyclone” centers on the stormy mind of Mitch (Jared Van Heel), who thunders over the recent loss of his abusive cop father in a gas station robbery. Unsure how to feel about the death of a man he can’t respect, Mitch dives into a pool of PBR and Maker’s Mark, lashing out at those closest to him. Late-night drives see Mitch repeatedly terrorizing Bob (Timmy L’Heureux), a convenience store clerk, as well as his neighbor’s disobedient dog. But Mitch’s longtime girlfriend, Erin (Salina Chatlain), becomes the primary target of his trailer park rumblings.

But Erin’s emotional traumas unfold under an entirely different set of stage lights. No longer able to turn to Mitch for comfort and support, she casts about for a new hero. Her desperate situation attracts the attention of Martin (Bobby Gutierrez), Mitch’s father’s former police partner.

But Martin’s crush doesn’t get him far, and Erin instead finds her escape in strung-out skater Steve (Jeff Verlanic). Erin rockets along in the roller coaster car just behind Mitch, taking similar plunges into despair.

If “Cyclone” boasts anything beyond a simple, versatile set and a soundtrack of rock standards, one would point first to Gutierrez.

After proving himself a more than adept director time and again in Missoula, Gutierrez steps back on the stage for an arm-twisting, choke-hold favoring, bad-cop performance that’ll put audiences in mind of Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning “The Departed.” Martin’s desire to win Erin while playing big brother to Mitch becomes Gutierrez’s own, and his Jameson-soaked chats with bartender Jim (Bill Wade) hint at a snapping point to come.

Similarly, Van Heel and Chatlain send “Cyclone” into rank-and-file with past MRM successes. All this comes alive under the direction of Chris Evans, a veteran of the Missoula theater scene intent on ending this theater season with a crack of thunder.