4000 Miles, the final production of New Jewish Theatre’s milestone 20th season, is billed as “a small story with a very big heart.” The play, written by Amy Herzog, centers around a relationship between a grandmother and her grandson as they bridge the 70 years between them and come to understand each other. Chris Tipp plays Leo, who rode cross-country on his bicycle and suffered the loss of his best friend/biking companion along the way. Amy Loui plays 91-year-old New Yorker Vera, and does so to good effect. Loui herself is far from old, but her portrayal of old age is impressive and, at times, positively uncomfortable; we watch as she struggles up from a chair, and feel the creak in our own knees.
At first, she and her grandson seem destined to regard each other as creatures from different planets. She doesn’t understand computers or padded bicycle shorts; he doesn’t get Yellow Pages or rotary dials. But bit by bit, they find common ground—in their lefty beliefs and shared enjoyment of a joint.
There are only two other actors in the play (three if you count the voice coming from a FaceTime call), and they are bright sparks. Bec, Leo’s girlfriend, is played by Rachel Fenton, who recently appeared in Saint Louis Actors’ Studio’s August: Osage County. She has the same vitality here as she did then. And Grace Langford (who plays Leo’s pick-up, Amanda) bursts on the set and— charismatically—commands it.
The play is directed by Edward Coffield and runs through May 28 at the Wool Studio Theater in the Arts & Education Building of the JCC’s Staenberg Family Complex.
Pictured at top: Chris Tipp as Leo and Amy Loui as Vera in 4000 Miles
Photo: Eric Woolsey