Before I start, I have to get my Jeff Daniels problem out of the way. I don’t dislike Jeff Daniels – quite the opposite, as a matter of fact. Nor do I have something against actors turned author. The problem is “Dumb and Dumber.” I mean, how is it that a man with a long and varied film career is remembered as “The Dumb and Dumber Guy?”

 I haven’t even seen the movie – and I have HBO – so how is it possible that I only think of him as that guy? To top it all off, I remember seeing an interview about “Dumb and Dumber” where Jeff Daniels explained his hair-styling technique for the film. I mean couldn’t my brain remember something a lot more positive about Jeff Daniels? Then again, it’s not like I remember him as the psychiatrist in “The Butcher’s Wife…”

But enough of that nonsense. Jeff Daniels resides most of his days in Chelsea, Michigan. And when it comes to writing about Michigan, the “Yoopers” are ripe with material. For the uninitiated, “Yoopers” are those that truly appreciate the Michigan Upper Peninsula (UP). In Daniel’s world, we meet the Soady men. Every year since the inception of Soady history, the Soady men have met at the Soady cabin just outside of Escanaba for the first day of hunting season. There is a rich lore that is written in the official record of the Soady family book, and Albert Soady meets the audience to tell them about incidents taking place on this day in November, 1989.

Stephanie Gercken’s set design is a wonderful picture of what a hunting cabin, left entirely to the designs of men, would look like after several generations of use. Duct tape is an ever-present upholstery repair tool, nothing matches and everything appears to have this level of grime that can only make hunting men happy. Hunting trophies are displayed in the cabin, as are the ever-present collection of empty mason jars for the world-famous Soady Sap Whiskey. This is clearly a set designed to evoke familiarity and comfort all at once.

The play is set in the present, as Albert Soady addresses the audience directly to discuss events that we will never agree. This is partly an interactive play, as audience members are welcomed to learn exactly what a Yooper thinks of non-Yoopers. Perhaps the most daring line, however, comes when, while in interactive mode, Albert refers to Michigan as “the superior state.” Luckily, our audience was a well-behaved one that refused to argue Albert’s point.

We discover that Albert’s son, Ruben Soady is in jeopardy of making the Soady record book – and not in a good way. It seems that the oldest Soady on record to be “without venison” was thirty-five, same age as Ruben. This is the make-or-break deer hunting season for Ruben, as being the oldest Soady to kill a deer is only slightly less humiliating than forgetting to bring pasties to eat on the hunting trip.

Ruben’s father and brother, Remnar, have danced around this problem for years. But this is the year that the issue must be addressed. Picture 20 years of dysfunctional Christmas, Thanksgiving and Family Reunions all blended together. Bring to the party one Jimmer, an honest-to-goodness UFO abductee who is only slightly better known for his ability to drink just about anything in sight in as little time as humanly possible.

The dialogue in Daniel’s play does not disappoint. While obviously littered with colloquialisms, the audience member is never lost in the rapid-fire drama that is unfolding as the crisis unfolds in that small hunting cabin. Picture a David Mamet-style rapid-fire dialogue (with far less cursing), make it incredible funny and be sure to include “Yooper” dialect. Then wonder just what kind of cast could pull this all off and not have one of these things slip.

John Field’s Albert Soady is played to near codger perfection. In one sentence, you find Albert to be a loving father, a paranoid delusional, and a stubborn as resistant to change as Escanaba itself. Likewise, Michael Stewart Allen and Damian Bowerman are incredibly believable as brothers who are both secretly jealous of one another (not that either would admit that), but determined to maintain a pecking order in the family unit. Mark Mann’s frenetic performance as Jimmer could easily be played to a buffoonish level, but Mann deftly avoids this without sacrificing any humor. This is a cast talented enough to carry Daniel’s dialogue.

The play’s second act, while containing perhaps the longest contiguous fart joke in theatrical history, is abrupt. For all of the build-up of this problem of Ruben’s, it feels a bit as if we were rushed out of the Soady cabin in order to move forward to the present. Additionally, while Anthony Roseboro does an adept job of playing Ranger Tom T. Treado, he is not up to the same level as the rest of the cast (quite surprising, as Roseboro is a fixture in Columbus theater for good reason). It was only at the climax of his scene with Ruben where Roseboro began to shine. I would expect as the run continues, Roseboro will be more of a force in an already talent-packed cast.

All in all, Escanaba in da Moonlight is a play that provides an entertaining evening for all present. Escanaba in da Moonlight runs at Catco Through March 2, 2003.