Reality Check

Taking out trashy television

by Mark Cofta

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The Dead Guy hits us with an intriguing what-if: Will — or maybe we should say, when will — reality TV raise its contrived stakes to a life-or-death climax?

I think we're too squeamish to allow on-screen death: We'll disguise it with morally dour pontificating, like when TV "news" showed Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" over and over again, ostensibly to voice our outrage. Eric Coble's play may not seem entirely plausible, but that's just one of the ways The Dead Guy stimulates debate in Flashpoint's engaging production.

Nathan Holt plays likable loser Eldon, discovered in rural Leadville by desperate producer Gina (Mathilda McCommon). Her offer is irresistible: The lonely lunk can spend $1 million in one week, providing he willingly dies on the last day — by a viewer-chosen method.

Cleverly framed by sappy video confessions, believably melodramatic graphics and satirical commercials, director Michael Osinski's production reveals the situation's humor, but Coble wants more. Eldon's altruistic goals backfire when his dirt-poor loved ones reject free pickup trucks, which strains credibility (would they really not be tempted?). A hedonistic tryst with drunk hookers at Disneyland misfires, too, forcing Eldon to rethink his last-week goals, especially given the audience's preference for death by chain saw.

For all its satire, The Dead Guy's suspense relies on human empathy and nobility — anathema to reality TV. Holt portrays Eldon's epiphany well, and Chris Morse provides understated insight as Gina's dedicated cameraman, but McCommon struggles with both the heartless producer and her sudden transformation — and Natalia del la Torre's bland costumes and a lack of TV-perfect makeup also diminish that familiar on-camera crispness. Keith Conallen, Jess Conda and Allison Heishman shine as rubes reduced by TV cameras to bug-eyed dopiness.

The Dead Guy concludes with clever twists — a nifty transformation by Adam Riggar's ambitious set, plus the audience vote's all-too-plausible cruelty — leaving much to ponder. When real death (in addition to the thousands of soul-numbing fictional killings) makes prime time, how will we respond?

(m_cofta@citypaper.net)

The Dead Guy Through May 31, Flashpoint Theatre Co., Second Stage at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., 215-563-4330, flashpointtheatre.org