The Patient speaks in a rapid-fire cadence, a torrent of crisp words spilling out. He’s frenetic, he’s frantic and then, suddenly, he’s funny. The punchline hits and the crowd erupts in simultaneous groans and appreciative applause for a pun well done—and he’s funny—but that’s not all. He’s funny, but he’s also lonely. He’s funny, but he thinks he’s a failure. He’s funny, but he knows that the kind-faced woman sitting between him and his Doctor isn’t really there. He’s funny, but he’s trying too hard to keep his wrists covered up so no one can see what he’s done. He’s funny, he’s always been funny, but it’s no longer enough. Plus One.
Micah Cover and Diana Cabuto’s Plus One debuted this week at Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group to an audience that may not have been fully prepared for what they were about to witness. The play, based on a true story, is ostensibly about “a suicidal stand-up comic, his therapist, and his imaginary friend.” And, to be fair, that is the set up. Yet despite the simple staging, what transpires in the 75-minute performance is a clever, poignant, and important discourse on depression and the myriad of ways it can hollow a man out from the inside.
The subject matter being as prevalent and essential to modern times as it is, a strong cast is necessary to carry such a weight. Here, Cover and Cabuto, starring in the piece they’ve written, anchor the production with impassioned performances. Though this is a two-person show, a willing audience member spends the duration of the show seated between Patient (Cover) and Doctor (Cabuto). This audience member remains reactive but silent; she is a touchpoint to comfort for one character that unfortunately must be destroyed by the other to reach a “cure.” Cabuto deftly handles her role, gently toeing the line between professional courtesy and genuine and affectionate concern for her Patient’s well-being. She portrays Doctor with an emotional honesty that clearly demonstrates not only an impressive range but a genuine sense of empathy, truly respecting her role.
Where Cabuto’s Doctor disguises her depth of caring with formality, Cover’s Patient, in typical stand-up comedian fashion, disguises his vulnerability with humor. Cover’s performance, clearly derived from both personal experience and his honed acting skills, is deeply impactful. His easy chemistry with Cabuto and relatable energy instantly connect him to the audience, and his jocular self-deprecation guides the story toward its serious subject matter. This is a man who is funny because he doesn’t know how else to exist; if he loses the ability to make light of his situation, he may as well cease to be.
Plus One is the kind of play that manages to elevate a simple concept by pairing it with performances that are clearly driven by actors with a deep, personal connection to their content. The dialogue, speeding along sometimes at a Sorkin-esqe pace, can seem daunting, but attentive guests will be rewarded with a witty repartee indicative of gifted writers giving their all to a subject that is important to them. Our Doctor is trying to cure her Patient of a hallucination that gives him hope by making him turn that sensation inward—to give himself hope instead. Maybe by the curtain’s close, she will have succeeded; he’ll see that being funny doesn’t need to be a shield to protect himself from his own thoughts anymore—he can just be funny. He can just be himself. And that will be enough.
Plus One runs Mondays at 8:30 PM through the 24th of September. You can buy tickets here. For more information on writer/actor Micah Cover and to see him perform magic, visit his website. For more information on writer/actress Diana Cabuto, find her official Facebook.
All photos by Brandon Slezak, Plus One artwork by Maria Oglesby.
