Review: Hedden play joins list of hits

It’s rare that, as editor of Kaimin Arts, I’ll opt to run a review of an event after the fact. It’s rarer still that I’ll sit down to write that review on a Saturday night. But the performance of Roger Hedden’s “Deep in the Hole” at the Stage Graffiti Festival last week was one of those rare performances that “pops” in every sense of the word.

With “Deep in the Hole,” Roger Hedden has accomplished what made Barret O’Brien (“Eating Round the Bruise”), Martin McDonagh (“Pillowman”) and Will Eno (“Thom Pain”) stars of the Missoula theatre community: He has composed a seamless work of art. 

Hedden’s play came to life in the crowded confines of the Crystal Theatre with unusual and comedic realism. No flash or fakey tragedy, no deeper meaning. As the play’s funnyman Ben (Jim Sontag) put it, these characters are too normal to have anything exciting happen to them. And not a lung in the place could keep from laughing.

“Deep in the Hole” is more a sitcom for the stage than a compelling and emotional piece of drama. Sometimes you thirst for Shakespeare or Arthur Miller; sometimes you’re just jonesing for an episode of “Seinfeld” in a more intimate and unpredictable atmosphere. Hedden slaps a simple cast of four young adults, two men and two women, on two couches and lets nature take over. The drinking, the sex talk, the “what are we going to do tonight?” could happen in any living room in Missoula. You know these characters; hell, you may be one of them.

But Hedden’s work alone did not prompt this review. The direction of Kaet Morris, the performances of these four stunning actors, and the efforts of Has Ghaddar and Andrew Rizzo in bringing this play to the stage all deserve a tip of the hat.

I encourage the professional elements of Missoula’s theater community, namely the Montana Repertory Theatre, to consider this production of “Deep in the Hole” a diamond-in-the-rough. O’Brien’s masterful collection of short monologues, “Eating Round the Bruise,” resurfaced in Montana Rep’s lineup following it’s world premiere in Missoula due to a public outcry for more. Rizzo’s twin performances in “Pillowman” and “Thom Pain” continue to generate occasional buzz. I certainly hope we haven’t seen the last of Hedden’s most recent contribution to local theater. And everyone who gave “Deep in the Hole” a standing ovation will no doubt agree.