What does it take to amend a broken relationship? Is that even possible? in Grangeville, Samuel D. Hunter delves into the internal turmoil of two half-brothers who are trying to reconnect, despite the complicated past that brings back painful memories.
Arnie (Tim Cummings) lives in The Netherlands. Jerry (Jeff LeBeau) still lives in Grangeville, Idaho, in his mom’s trailer home. After years of silence, Jerry connects with Arnie to let him know about the imminent death of their mom, who is sick in the hospital and medical bills piling up. Navigating through their mom’s debts, they also navigate their traumatic past and the attempts to reconstruct their relationship. Even though their mother is not seen or heard in the play, she is omnipresent in the characters’ lives in such a way that her influence has shaped the way they see the world, impacting their relationships with other people.
To highlight the emotions of the play, Director John Perrin Flynn uses a mostly black set design to concentrate the attention on the two characters. The walls on the background have an irregular texture, like broken pieces from a shattered rock; it’s a subtle comparison to the shattered relationship between the two characters. The lighting also plays an important role, it’s directional, focusing on the characters, heightening their state of mind with an impactful dramatic effect. Hunter’s dialogue is superlative in the voices of Cummings and LeBeau, carrying most of the play with limited physical action. Their nuanced performances add a rich texture to the themes of the play. Both actors are able to lead the audience to a world of vulnerabilities that unveil the consequences of untreated or denied mental and emotional trauma. Flynn shows his ability to interpret Hunter’s text and subtext, creating a space where raw emotions unearth, fight, and try to rectify the aftermath of a neglectful and abusive upbringing. It’s a sophisticated production with solid performances and excellent direction.
The play is an exploration of how humans react to abuse. Jerry was abused by his mother and father. Jerry, in turn, abused Arnie. He not only exerted physical abuse on Arnie, but also denied Arnie the opportunity to attend a prestigious college. The abuse was also a reaction to Arnie being gay in a small and conservative town as Grangeville, Idaho. Although not directly disclosed in this play’s dialogue, Hunter has written in the past about conservative Christianity and its negative views on homosexuality. An example is A Great Wilderness, where a gay conversion therapist in a Christian retreat, also placed in Idaho, takes one last client before retirement. Even though these stories are placed in Idaho, they reflect the Christian views at large and the root cause of violence and discrimination against individuals of the LGBT community.
An interesting device used in this play is the two actors doubling as Stacey, Jerry’s wife, and Bram, Arnie’s husband. The doubling seems to serve as a projection of the deep-rooted traumas afflicting the two half-brothers, and how the emotional scars of their upbringing have affected the way they relate to their respective partners. It’s a reflection on how difficult it’s to let go of the past. As underlying residues, hidden but latent, resentment and repressed pain don’t go away, despite time and physical distance. Arnie and Jerry try to work things through, but continue to hit a wall, exhausting almost all chances of a reconciliation. Even therapy can’t seem to help Jerry restitute the damage he’s caused to Arnie. In this case, Hunter uses Jerry as an analogy of deep transformation. Jerry is a character addressing his issues, willing to pick up the pieces left behind by his reckless behavior.
One interesting detail is the mention of dioramas in the story. This came as one of Hunter’s experiences visiting The Netherlands. He went to a museum and saw the exhibit of Tracey Snelling, an artist born in Oakland. The dioramas are miniature or life-size representations of different scenarios. Some of these dioramas are used in movie sets to represent locations or landscapes. In the case of Shelling, her dioramas are miniature representations of American places, like gas stations and such. These crafted miniature scenes clicked with Hunter and motivated him to keep writing Grangeville, as he had set it aside, not entirely sure what direction the play should take. In this play, the dioramas are representations of the journey to discover the purpose and direction to get to the final destination. They’re also a representation of America, it’s people, places, and attitudes. Curiously enough, the set of the trailer home looks like a diorama; it’s like a representation of their past and the meaningful change transforming Arnie and Jerry’s lives.
The play doesn’t answer questions or take a strict stand on the issues depicted, it simply presents the circumstances of two characters that are struggling to come to terms with their realities. As usual, Hunter doesn’t deliver a verdict. He closes the curtain with an open question, allowing the audience to decide for themselves. Some people might hate it, some people might love it. But this is an intelligent way of making theatre, presenting life as it is and opening up the conversation.
Grangeville
Ruskin Group Theatre
2800 Airport Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(ample free parking)
Opening at 8pm on Friday, May 29, 2026
Schedule: 8pm Fridays, Saturdays; 2pm Sundays. No performance on June 5, 12; July 3, 5. Added performances at 8pm on Mondays June 8, 15
Closing July 12, 2026
Tickets: ruskingrouptheatre.com
Written by: Samuel D. Hunter. Directed by: John Perrin Flynn. Produced by: John Ruskin, Michael R. Myers, Nicole Millar. Presented by: Ruskin Group Theatre.
Cast: Tim Cummings as Arnie, Jeff LeBeau as Jerry.
Creative team: Stephanie Kerley Schwartz (Scenic and Costume Design), Dan Weingarten (Lighting Design), Keith Stevenson (Sound Design), Jan Bryant & Dan Speaker (Stunt/Fight Coordination), Nicole Millar, Stephanie Kerley Schwartz & Ryan Wilson (Props), Nicole Millar (Production Stage Manager).
