Paper Tiger II “Staircase to Nowhere”, a play by Fair Harbor resident Ron Scott Stevens makes a New York debut.

 

Post show discussion leader Walter Thinnes, Actors Diane Tyler & Robert Adrian, and playwright Ron Scott Stevens

Drawing on his experience as former boxing commissioner and former chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission Fair Harbor’s own Ron Scott Stevens continues his passion for theater as he presented yet another jam packed play, his fifth, at a reading in NYC’s Polaris North club, a member driven organization of theater artists.

The audience at Ron’s plays is almost as fascinating as what is onstage in a testosterone filled room of former boxers and athletes and sports people as well as other writers and friends, which is fortunate as Ron’s writing is as muscular as his audience (and he is himself.)

Paper Tiger 11 is a deceptively simple two hander between Geri Silver (Diane Tyler) and her husband Leon (Robert Adrian), a Jewish middle aged couple still with a zest for life and each other colored by the complexity of their three sons. a “loser” gay son and aspiring actor, a middle son in Vietnam, and a young son, secretly and methodically stealing from them – but why?

With the ease and grace of a boxer, and the skill of a champ, Scott: manages to assail serious issues in such a facile way that it is only when looking back you realize he has approached so many with concise, laser sharp evaluations through the Silvers as the couple navigates their own lives and those of their three sons. Often, when seemingly lost, Leon refers to Polaris, the brightest star in a constellation, to guide them through issues as complex as Civil Rights, Viet Nam, draft dodging, sexuality, and even more.

Another surprising ingredient in his play writing style is his vast knowledge of music as he peppers the production with many music references throughout.

Although in an early stage one can sense the ultimate power such a play might achieve, yet filled with humor and warmth. Perhaps it will be performed, as his other play, in the Fair Harbor firehouse soon!

Jeanne Lieberman, editor of Theaterscene,net