Article 4 strains credibility, but forceful acting carries the day

Whatever faults Jim Reyland's original play Article 4 has, lack of ambition or incident isn't among them. Now up in a workshop production under the thorough direction of Barry Scott, Reyland's script-in-progress delivers a fitful, convoluted character study of one Jonathan Forty, a middle-aged man given up for adoption in infancy. Having grown up to become a piano teacher in Cincinnati, Forty's life changes abruptly when he is named heir to his birth father's fortune. He assumes a capricious attitude toward his new largesse—including ownership of the New York Jets, whose coach he bedevils with midgame calls.

Article 4 is nothing if not eventful,

The production benefits most from attentive professional casting. The key element here is Mark Cabus' epic, intensely physical performance in the lead role, which offers a portrait of a man who seems initially childlike and playful but later petulant, cynical and unforgiving. Such a drastic shift in temperament might be easier to accept if the arrestedly developed Forty didn't seem to bring it all upon himself. That he does so forms the arc of the play, and if it's ultimately bitterness and self-loathing you want in your protagonist, then his dour portrayal certainly is successfully wrought.

The other actors all turn in sincere work, and only the script's improbabilities and jolting time shifts prohibit them from achieving more. That includes Jamie Farmer as the North Carolina wannabe who charms Forty then marries him for practical reasons; Evelyn Blythe as an obnoxious neighbor looking to relieve Forty of some of his money; and Ted Welch as the young lover, who is portrayed early on as an alcoholic loser but later gains success as a best-selling author.

Maybe the most purely enjoyable performance is that of Greg Wilson as Forty's lawyer, who becomes an enduring and endearing figure—not to mention an island of stability in an otherwise unpredictable sea of emotion. Also surprisingly good is Chris Goodrich, a junior at Montgomery Bell Academy, who lends a tender vulnerability to the role of James.

In spite of the flaws that strain its credibility, Article 4 challenges with its untoward forward motion,bulwarked throughout by the author's talent for realistic dialogue. Between Cabus and the play's stark conclusion, expect a double whammy of pathos.