Theater Review: ‘Storefront Church

(L-R) Bob Dishy as Ethan Goldklang, Tonya Pinkins as Jessie Cortez, Zach Grenier as Reed Van Druyten, and Ron Cephas Jones as Chester Kimmich in John Patrick Shanley’s riveting drama “Storefront Church.” (Kevin Thomas Garcia)

NEW YORK—There are always consequences to one’s actions—a point playwright John Patrick Shanley drives forcefully home in his riveting drama Storefront Church, now being presented by the Atlantic Theater Company.

The play opens with Ethan (Bob Dishy) arguing with Reed Van Druyten (Zach Grenier), a seemingly hardhearted bank loan officer, for a mortgage extension, so Ethan and his wife Jessie (Tonya Pinkins) won’t lose their home.

The couple faces this predicament because Jessie had given much of their savings to their tenant, the Reverend Chester Kimmich (Ron Cephas Jones), to start a church in the bottom floor of their house. Reverend Kimmich, however, has not yet held any services or paid any rent.

Receiving no help from the bank, Jessie, a devout, God-fearing woman, goes to Donaldo Calderon (Giancarlo Esposito), the Bronx Borough president and so-called man of the people.

Calderon is initially reluctant to help because it may interfere with an upcoming deal his office has with the bank regarding a mall. The mall will bring revitalization and jobs to the area, albeit ones at minimum wage. But when Calderon learns he has family connections to Jessie and Ethan’s situation, he agrees to see what can be done.

What makes the play so involving is that almost no one is who they initially appear to be. Several characters have a personal crisis of faith regarding the directions their lives have taken.

Shanley pulls few punches in setting up this scenario, forcing several of those involved to ultimately bare their innermost souls. Making the work more thought-provoking is the element of irony running throughout: Someone always pays for someone else’s good fortune.

In this way, the play is both an indictment against the establishment as well as an attempt to humanize those who work within it. It scrutinizes those who act blindly when skepticism should be called for, with the most sympathy going to those who, at first look, seemingly deserve it the least.

While Shanley does a good job with the script, which expertly melds spiritual themes and beliefs with the harsh light of reality, as director, his efforts are more of a mixed bag.

In particular, there are two silent, single-person transitional scenes that come off as rather clunky. While meant to give extra insight into the characters involved, neither sequence is really necessary; the information in these moments could have easily been presented elsewhere without taking the time to change the set, do the scene, and then change everything again for the next portion of the play.

(L-R) Jordan Lage, Zach Grenier, and Giancarlo Esposito in “Storefront Church.” (Kevin Thomas Garcia)

Fortunately, Shanley does much better in sequences that have dialogue. This is especially so in the initial meeting between Calderon and Reverend Kimmich, where first one character than the other takes command of the situation, as well as one between Calderon and Tom Raidenberg (Jordan Lage), the C.E.O. of the bank.

Grenier is brilliant as Reed, at first appearing to be a drone-like cog in the bank’s machinery. Yet Reed feels things greatly, not only for having suffered personally, but also because he’s tired of being part of what he sees as a major problem concerning the housing crisis.

Esposito is very good as Calderon, someone dedicated to helping those less fortunate than him, and who ultimately is reminded there is more to life than the next big deal.

Jones cuts a great figure as Reverend Kimmich, a passionate yet tormented individual paralyzed by indecision about his calling, who sits alone waiting for a sign—at least until Calderon walks through his door.

Interestingly, it is the characters who seemingly feel no conflict who grow the least during the play.

Pinkins is superb as Jessie, a true believer who prays for salvation, but never takes the time to realize, or alternatively doesn’t want to know, the ultimate repercussions to the people who are the instruments of her deliverance.

Dishy is good as her husband, basically comic relief (“I’m a secular Jew. I don’t know what that means, but there are a lot of us”) who, despite his outwardly jovial manner, is unable to move past his own perspectives and prejudices, at least until the very end.

Lage is surprisingly sympathetic as Tom, the stereotypical businessman who supposedly wants to reach out to the community in which he serves as long as there’s an upside for him. One wishes, though, that Shanley would have explored this character a bit further.

Takeshi Kata’s sets work well, though they’re all a touch antiseptic, with no real personality of their own.

With Storefront Church, Shanley spins a powerful tale about people in crisis and moral transition. While not quite perfect, what’s presented on stage is often amazing to behold.

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