Meet Tyrone Power, protagonist of George F. Walker’s play “Filthy Rich.” No, not the 1940s actor, but a burned-out, would-be novelist and sometime “private eye” who lives in his ratty office, loves his pet fish and talks too much when he gets nervous.
Power is a sad sack of cynical self-loathing, who, despite his best efforts to retreat from humanity, keeps finding the strangest stream of film noir characters outside a John Huston film pounding on his door.
They demand he accept death-in-the-family telegrams he won’t hear, investigative cases he doesn’t need and life advice he doesn’t want, as the police, a gangster, two society sisters and a wisecracking Bowery boy with big dreams cajole Power into re-entering the human race.
Power (Bob Rogerson) keeps crumpled drafts of his unfinished novel in trash bags, symbolizing his opinion of himself and life in general. Jamie (Scott Kerns), the plucky if not-too-bright delivery boy/janitor, first appears with a telegram but soon promotes himself to Power’s partner as the two unlock the secret of a politician in hiding and an old friend of Power’s who may or may not be a blackmailer.
Driving the plot are the wealthy Scott sisters, Anne (Beth Hylton) and Susan (Megan Anderson), Stackhouse (Stephen Patrick Martin), the tough but good-hearted cop; and Harry “The Pig” Duvall, the slicked-back, pinstriped, monosyllabic gangster.
It’s all a bit much for Power, who’d rather stick his head in his fish tank and enjoy “the underwater pastoral.” But soon, men are smashing his furniture, kicking out his front door and crashing through his window, as bullets, wisecracks and $500,000 in small, unmarked bills go flying.
Power doesn’t walk, he shuffles. Kerns as Jamie is Power’s antithesis — all quick action. And the dichotomy gives the play its comic energy.
By play’s end, the mystery is solved and life’s “bad smell” is a bit sweeter. Kudos to designers Daniel Ettinger, Kathleen Geldard, Liza Davies, Mark Anduss and Michael Philippi for their creation of a set Mike Hammer would have found quite comfortable.
If You Go
‘Filthy Rich’
Venue: Everyman Theatre, 1727 N. Charles St. in Baltimore
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; Fridays at 8 p.m.; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays; through Dec. 14
Tickets: $18 to $38
Info: 410-752-2208; everymantheatre.org
