The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey

The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, a one-man show at the Westside Theatre, was a great experience. An earnest and kind treatment of multiple characters by one actor is rare. It is all too easy to fall into mocking the female or elderly characters – James Lecesne both wrote and performed the whole piece – and as this show is set south on the Jersey Shore, there are certain unnamed caricatures that are top of mind with the region.

But this show has serious subject matter that is treated well. A detective looks into the case of a missing boy; a boy who everyone is quick to point out is easily mocked. Yet most of the characters, all portrayed by Lecesne, respect and love Leonard for that which makes him different and, well, mockable.  I left the theatre with a skip in my step – a rarity when I have to walk down 43rd from 9th Avenue to 7th Avenue in the middle of the day – because this play just reminded me about some of the tenacity of the human spirit and what a community can do when reminded of it.

The play is 70 minutes, no intermission, in a small house with no bad sightlines. What do you have to lose? 

Guest review by Sarah Austen