Taylor Hanes as Arthur. Photo by Lee McDonald.

By Flora Lynn Isaacson

Arthur and Esther by British playwright Ross Howard is the story of a librarian and his attempt to reconcile the ghosts of his past with the promise of the future. From the moment he appears with his large black bag, Taylor Hanes as Arthur in his green shirt and tie is every inch the dedicated librarian. He takes the audience into his confidence as he tells his story. Arthur’s grandfather was Dewey who invented the Dewey Decimal System. He sets a picture of his grandfather on the table and proceeds to show us a family album. He shows his father who changed the family name to Huey. He also shows us a picture of his wife Esther, who’s last name was Roget, as in Roget’s Thesaurus.

As Act I opens in an empty library, small time librarian Arthur Huey’s world is crumbling. He just lost his library, which is being turned into office space, and he just lost his wife, Esther. Taylor Hanes is superb as he puts on Arthur’s glasses and looks at us. He saved a book from the library called Twenty Ways to Terminate Your Existence. Then Arthur takes out various objects from his large bag to end his life: pills, a rope to hang himself, gasoline and matches, a knife, and a pistol. But Arthur saves himself by remembering who he is and who he represents: the Dewey values of integrity and loyalty and the Dewey Decimal mode of being, a mark of achievement, a history.

Act II is set hours later by a lake. In order to reconcile his hurt feelings over his wife Esther leaving him for his friend Chuck, after twenty-three years of marriage, Arthur puts a different spin on his story. He enters with his same black bag and sets up a picnic for two with tablecloth, plastic utensils and a folding chair. This is where Arthur and Esther had their first picnic together. Then Arthur takes out Esther’s clothes one by one and, as he tries them on, he suddenly becomes Esther, complete with a black wig. He pictures Esther trying to contact him, time after time, to make amends for what she has done to him. Arthur takes off Esther’s wig at the end of the show and says, “That’s what I wish you had done.”

The setting in each act is sparse, leaving the main emphasis on character development. Act I had only a table and chair and Act II was a bare stage until Arthur set up his picnic outing. Originally staged by Sarah Norris, the direction was smooth, inventive and full of surprises. Olivia Griffing handled the lighting effects and the musical interludes quite well. The ninety minute show includes a ten-minute intermission.

Arthur and Esther made its West Coast premiere at the Phoenix Theatre Annex, 414 Mason Street, Suite 406, San Francisco. This dark comedy had previously won acclaim at this year’s New York Fringe Festival. Arthur and Esther will play two more times, Friday, Feb. 22 and Saturday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. For ticket information ($20) call (415) 820-1444 or contact www.arthurandesther.com.