Lonergan's 'Lobby Hero' at Theatre Horizon

Kenneth Lonergan's Lobby Hero is an expertly crafted play about two security guards and two New York City beat cops. Jeff (Brian Ratcliffe) is a confessed lay-about, content to ride the night desk with a proven scheme for sneaking naps. His boss, William (Akeem Davis), "the youngest captain in the history of this no-account fucking security firm," confides in Jeff because he regards the likeable loser as a project.

Will faces a dilemma: his brother was arrested for a serious crime, but named Will as his alibi. Should he support his brother by confirming the lie? Can Jeff keep the secret?

Meanwhile, veteran cop Bill (Kevin Meehan) tutors rookie Dawn (Rachel Camp) — and also seduces her. She reveres his self-confidence and experience, but she's thrown when her married mentor makes a booty call at Jeff's building.

Soon, all four are embroiled in risky lies and power plays. Integrity, they find, is flexible; truth is slippery. Everyone wants to do the right thing — but by what definition of right?

A human fishbowl

All the action takes place in designer Maura Roche's convincing lobby, a once-elegant space that, like the characters' ethics, shows signs of wear. The realism extends to costume designer Alison Roberts's believably detailed uniforms, Maria Shaplin's detailed lighting, and the NYC layered street sounds produced by sound designer Larry Fowler.

For us, the lobby is a lab experiment terrarium; for the characters, it's a life-and-death arena pitting their idealism and cynicism, their principles and weaknesses, their altruism and selfishness in struggles against one another, and themselves. Souls are at stake.

This accomplished quartet of performers maintains the delicate balance among the characters. Lobby Hero requires nuanced performances that resist clichés and don't provoke easy judgments from us. They're not symbols or stereotypes but real people, which is sincere praise not only of the actors, but of the director, playwright, and entire production. Given that the action involves murder, romance, and various betrayals, melodramatic exaggeration could be tempting.

So who's the hero?

Lonergan wisely provides no tidy answers. Who wins and who loses is a discussion topic post-show, not a verdict declared by the playwright. While we might empathize more with the two weaker, more vulnerable characters, no one's actions are above reproach. A hint of hopefulness in the play's final scene doesn't sweep away the play's troubling issues.

Lobby Hero might frustrate some who want to know the characters' final fates, but that lack of certainty seems purposeful from Lonergan, and wisely supported by Decker's superb production: right and wrong are not determined by consequences so much as by what we do and how we do it.