Charlie Johnson is a retired insurance guy who lives in a small town in Indiana. He is not, to be sure, the former Big Red quarterback who completed his master’s and PhD degrees in chemical engineering at Washington University while playing here. (His photo playing in the incredibly muddy game in 1964 with the Giants hangs in my living room. That’s another story.)
No, this Charlie is just an ordinary guy and perhaps the last person you’d expect to be knocking off all seven volumes of In Search of Lost Time. You may remember it better as Remembrance of Things Past. When we meet him in The Midnight Company’s Charlie Johnson Reads All of Proust, he’s living a life of bi-weekly card games, driving the church’s bus, not that he’s not one himself, and going to Snappy Seniors meetings.
It’s easy to get lulled into thinking that this is just another cornball-meets-culture story. But it’s not. The exposition is very well-paced, although there’s a bit of a giveaway when he lapses into some lovely descriptive language about tomatoes. Charlie’s stories range from childhood to the present, Hanrahan’s low-key approach a perfect form for the character.
It helps to have read Proust – or just read about Proust – to get more out of the humor, perhaps. But it’s certainly not necessary. Charlie explains…well, not all of Proust, but enough to let everyone enjoy the evening and connect the massive work to his life, and, in various ways, to ours, as well.
Sarah Lynne Holt directs the show. Chuck Winning gives us a living room with lots of pictures that aren’t accidentally chosen, and worth a post-show look. Tony Anselmo did the lights, which accentuate some of the remembrance.
The play is by Amy Crider. This may be only its second appearance in the country, but it’s a warm, interesting 70 minutes or so, and one hopes it can continue to be performed. It's a delight.
Charlie Johnson Reads All of Proust
through June 15
The Midnight Company
Kranzberg Black Box
501 N. Grand