Brett Neveu’s “Red Bud” stakes its claim in the oft-plowed landscape of midlife males at a reunion — think Jason Miller’s “That Championship Season” with a decidedly rougher patina. Brant Russell’s taut Signal Ensemble production doesn’t leave you too much time to think about how familiar it all is until after it’s over, as the cast dives into the nasty pyrotechnics with zest.
Neveu is a dab hand at anatomizing the frustrations of men who know that the glory days not only aren’t coming back, they never really existed in the first place. But this play, in which a quartet of friends camp out at the Red Bud motocross race in Michigan every year, feels like something dusted off from the back of the drawer.
Despite its pedigree as a piece commissioned and produced in 2010 by London’s Royal Court Theatre, “Red Bud” doesn’t contain the chilling menace of Neveu’s best work. Nor does it quite overcome its formulaic limitations, despite some nods in the direction of the permanent unemployment of blue-collar men recently spotlighted by The New York Times. These guys aren’t victims of the recession as much as they are victims of their own unacknowledged limitations, which becomes clear as one idiotic ritual after another takes center stage.
Joe McCauley’s Greg, the resentful father-to-be, casts a literal shadow over the campfire as he drunkenly fantasizes about how he would have hit the hills on the course hard, without flinching. Colby Sellers’ Jason, who has sold everything he owns after losing his job at a lawn care company, tries to put a positive spin on having almost nothing to his name. “Live a clutter-free life, that’s what they say. It’s about freedom! (pause) From clutter.”
Viper-tongued Shane (Bries Vannon) reveals his own pain at losing a job as a social worker when a kid in his caseload died. Bill (Joseph Stearns), a part-time fireman, amps up the tension with his teenage girlfriend, Jana (Samantha Beach), who is interested in stirring the emotional pot even as Greg’s expectant wife, Jen (Sarah Gitenstein), tries to impose some order.
Though it spins its narrative wheels, “Red Bud” runs the course as a character study with fleet and hard-hitting performances.
2.5 STARS
Through Feb. 28, Signal Ensemble Theatre, 1802 W. Berenice Ave.; $23 at 773-698-7389 or signalensemble.com