Baby Brother Stage North’s World Premiere is an Actor’s Showcase in Subtlety With an Authentic MN Feel

Baby Brother is a new play written by Joe Keyes, currently of California but formerly a Minnesotan. He has not lost his ear for how we speak in the Midwest, and no, this is not the exaggerated regional accents of Fargo. This feels like you are a fly on the wall, listening in as two Minnesota bachelor farmer brothers try to have a conversation. They are in their 50s. I’ve been to enough rural church basements to know that the lack of emotional sharing on display, the reticence to discuss anything difficult openly, is not far from the mark.

Duane and Arvis are brothers living on and working the family farm. They have just returned from their mother’s funeral. They change out of their suits and into their jeans and flannel shirts, make a pot of coffee, and set to work on the jigsaw puzzle on the table. With Mom gone, they both seem to want to actually talk about their past, but even though they have lived together their whole lives, it doesn’t come easily. Which is precisely what feels so perfect about the script and performances. The way they start and stop, the way they cajole things out of each other, and the way one line of memories leads to a circling of the truth. There is humor in the play, but it is not a comedy, and the content advisory warning in the program should be taken note of. This show contains discussions of childhood physical and sexual abuse.

Baby Brother is an intimate play performed in a very intimate space at Open Book. The sure sign of good performances is when you are close enough to the actors that you could reach out and touch them, yet still completely believe they are the characters they are portraying, that they are completely oblivious to the audience’s existence. David Tufford plays the older brother, Duane. Like all older brothers, he’s the more confident and in charge of the two. Eric Lee plays Arvis, and we sense his timidity, suspecting at first that it is just his role in the family, having grown up as the youngest. But we come to understand that he is maybe a bit lost, that maybe something was taken from him when he was younger, and that has contributed to his disposition. Both performers are excellent at staying true to their characters. Even when dark revelations come out, there is no emotional breakdown. But there is a reserved and subtle moment of gentleness when Tufford makes slight physical contact in his effort to comfort his brother.

I’m really glad I made room in my schedule for this one. It’s only running for two weeks, so I recommend trying to book it right away. It’s such a simple show to produce, but the script is a gift to actors, allowing them to dive deep, internalize these roles, and give really subtle and effective performances. Director Peter Moore has wisely chosen to keep the set sparse and his actors reined in. It’s the lack of showiness that makes it so effective in the end.

Baby Brother runs through 11/22 at Open Book in Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://stagenorthmpls.org/

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the new website  79 Seconds on Stage a free and full guide to local theatre in the Twin Cities.

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