"His face was boyish, despite his wrinkles": STC's cheeky "Babbitt"

Mara Devi and Matthew Broderick (center) in Babbitt, Shakespeare Theatre Company. Photo: Teresa Castracane Photography

This month's production from Shakespeare Theatre Company is a stage adaption of Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis's critique of middle-aged Midwestern conservativism from 1922. Joe DiPietro converted the novel for an ensemble cast starring Matthew Broderick at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, imported to Washington with a few new cast members, seen Friday night at Sidney Harman Hall downtown.

Broderick dives into the plain, empty-headed everyman role of George F. Babbitt, real estate broker, with understated relish. His characterization, two parts "Aw, shucks" to one part "apple pie," reads as if his iconic character Ferris Bueller had grown up into a small-town Republican. "He seemed prosperous, extremely married and unromantic," as Lewis put it in the novel. Broderick's biggest laughs came from his hilarious, very slow attempts to sit on the floor in a younger woman's apartment, as well as dancing with her. The political ideas, representing both liberal and conservative sides as Babbitt rebels from his staid existence, echo today's divides with surprisingly few textual changes (the novel's forays into racist language are happily omitted).

The adaptation is essentially a one-man show, with seven "story-tellers," as they are called, both narrating the story, with text lifted more or less directly from the book, and also becoming characters in dialogue with Broderick. Ann Herada reprises the role of Myra Babbitt, the long-suffering wife, with pathetic patience, while Mara Davi plays the younger woman, Tanis, who enchants Babbitt. Lewis's slightly twee commentary does not exactly convert easily to the stage, undermining the play's dramatic potential. The main appeal of the production remains the chance to see Broderick in his STC debut.

Christopher Ashley's production, made for La Jolla Playhouse, revolves around a somewhat pedestrian concept: it is set in a sterilely lit library, complete with shelf stacks, book carts, desks and chairs (scenic design by Walt Spangler). The action remains in Lewis's 1920s, although some character changes do not quite fit that setting. The justification for the library setting comes from a tiny alteration to the story: Babbitt's wife goes to stay with her sister when they have fallen out and is comforted by reading books in the local library. To make up with her, after her life-threatening illness that forces Babbitt to see reason, he atones by handing her a new library card.

Babbitt runs through November 3 at Sidney Harman Hall. shakespearetheatre.org