PAWTUCKET, R.I. — It’s been suggested by literary scholars and theater aficionados that Lin-Manuel Miranda, who created “Hamilton” among other great works, is the modern-day bard. Just as Shakespeare took the language of the people and elevated it to iambic pentameter, Miranda ennobled hip-hop and rap, turned it into verse, and put it on stage. Shakespeare offered intriguing character studies within epic stories, as did Miranda. Shakespeare was at his best when he revolved these stories around tragic heroes. Ditto Miranda.
For my money, Stephen Adly Guirgis should be included in this conversation, and his “The Motherf**ker with the Hat” — yes, “The Motherf**ker with the Hat” — is proof positive. The play premiered on Broadway in 2011 and is currently being superbly staged by the Burbage Theatre Company under Jackie Davis’ seamless direction.
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Fresh out of jail for drug dealing, newly employed, and confidently clean and sober, Jackie walks into the seedy apartment he shares with longtime girlfriend Veronica bearing gifts, a self-assured smile, and a new-found optimism. Then he finds a stranger’s hat in the room and things rapidly derail.
What is so likable about Jackie, Veronica and the other hard-edged, long-suffering, and self-destructive addicts who populate Guirgis’ world is that they still have a pure heart and the capacity to care. Unfortunately, they lack the wherewithal to put others’ needs above their own or to see past their own form of addiction. These desperate, drowning individuals try to keep their heads above water by dragging down those around them.
What makes this one act, 95-minute play so intriguing is its use of profane language, which simultaneously serves as each character’s flotation device and defensive weapon of choice. The playwright arms his dramatis personae with enough F-bombs and verbal land mines to assault but never insult the audience’s sensibilities and, by way of creative application, raises raw street talk to an artform. As did Shakespeare. As did Miranda.
And like their works, “The Motherf**ker with the Hat” is very much a character study placed within an epic story, though the characters are users and abusers caught up in a cycle of self-sabotage. Also, this play is funny. Very. But everyone in it is a tragic hero, not unlike Alexander Hamilton and Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
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From the self-righteous lips of Ralph D. — Jackie’s sponsor in Alcoholics Anonymous and his only friend outside of prison — comes profanity so intertwined with 12-step self-empowerment jargon that it seems empty and harmless. But Ralph D., as brilliantly portrayed by Anthony Goes, is a smooth-talking chameleon so clever in his camouflage that you have no idea what lurks just beneath its surface.
Marleny Luna plays Victoria, Ralph D.’s wife, who has finally seen through his disarming but empty verbosity and finds herself disillusioned, disenfranchised, and desperately treading water. Luna is so endearing, even with her character’s foul mouth, that it’s tempting to toss Victoria a life preserver as the playwright tosses her an anchor.
Veronica is portrayed with stunning intensity by Catia, even though the wear and tear of long-term and on-going addiction never really surfaces in her depiction. Still, she’s a train wreck for sure, and travels at two speeds: agitated and aggressive. Through Veronica, the playwright demonstrates the power bestowed upon those who talk the loudest and the longest, just like Hamilton and Hamlet.
Cursing on the page comes across as street poetry on the stage when delivered by Victor Machado. Machado, as Jackie, is a true pleasure to watch as he maniacally seeks out the owner of the hat, struggles to bare his soul to others, and keeps his omnipresent demons in check. He nicely captures Jackie’s sincerity while never losing sight of his ill-fated destiny.
Arturo Puentes as Jackie’s cousin, Julio, is magnificent. Julio is full of sexual and emotional contradictions, and Puentes turns them into brilliant comedic moments. His straight-faced delivery of the line “leave the gun, take the empanadas” is a highlight.
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All this unfolds in Veronica, Ralph D., and Jackie’s living rooms, which are creatively distinguished in the theater’s intimate performance space by way of the production team’s isolating lighting and projected window views that change from location to location.
Make no mistake, “The Motherf**ker with the Hat” is one of those plays that will likely make you wince while listening. But like “Hamilton’s” rapid-fire rap and “Hamlet’s” complicated iambic pentameter, you’ll continue to do so for fear of missing something really interesting.
THE MOTHERF**CKER WITH THE HAT
Play by Stephen Adly Guirgis. Directed by Jackie Davis. At the Burbage Theatre Co., 59 Blackstone Ave., Pawtucket. Through June 16. Tickets are $30, including fees. 401-484-0355, burbagetheatre.org.
Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who formerly wrote for the Austin Chronicle. Connect with him on Facebook.