Rob Zellers' 'Harry's Friendly Service' a portrait of industrial boom in '70s
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In "Harry's Friendly Service," Edward James Hyland, at the wheel, plays Harry. Then clockwise are cast members Brooks Almy, Alex Coleman, Daryll Heysham, Joel Ripka and Tressa Glover. Playwright Rob Zellers is at right.
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Rob Zellers has been working here but the far reaches of his mind have been stretched just over the state line as he brings his new work, the Youngstown-set "Harry's Friendly Service," to Pittsburgh Public Theater.
Those "66 miles" (he blurts it at the mere mention of how close the cities are) melt away when Zellers conjures his Ohio hometown.
The play includes snapshots of his experiences growing up in a post-World War II industrial city. It's a work of fiction, Zellers is quick to point out, but it's also filled with his memories of a once-prosperous steel town.
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Zellers, the Public's education director and co-writer of "The Chief," says there were "three variables" that came together to form "Harry's Friendly Service." First among them, he says, was to portray the intricacies of a father-daughter relationship (he's father to Alexa). Next, a generation of men he admired.
"And there's a hometown and a story of steel and industry, because to be honest with you, I'm very, very sad about what's happening right now in Detroit and Youngstown and Flint, Mich., and Gary, Ind., these old industrial cities that are rusting away. ... I know it wasn't perfect and I know there were problems and I know that management was sometimes bad and I know unions were sometimes bad; I know all those facts -- but I think what the ends were is that we had this fabulous middle class.
"That's the part that hurts the most, is we invented this thing called the middle class and now I see it going away, and it hurts."
The play was set in 1977 because he sees that time as the beginning of the end, when members of that greatest generation he so admired found themselves looking at the downside of prosperity.
When his father and uncles had returned from the Pacific, they came home full of gratitude and relief and a resolve to start anew. "And they were buying automobiles and appliances and homes and of course that made steel a very, very valuable product, and Youngstown was booming. It was a great, great place to grow up," Zellers says.
In "Harry's," those men are represented by four friends in their 60s, who still gather at the local gas station, unfolding a table for a game of cards, a bite to eat and an exchange of stories about the glory days.
Zellers says it would be great if audiences lament over the decline of the middle class when they see his play, but his priority was to write about relationships.
"And that includes father-daughter at the heart of it, but also friendship. Four old friends, four people that grew up together, went off to war in the guys' case. And they're still friends. Longtime friendships. Brothers, sometimes. Parents and children. All the various configurations, permutations of family and friendship. ... And the way we hurt each other and the way we get hurt and the way we reconcile. And I guess as important, the way we evolve; the way we go from this day forward."
The characters in "Harry's Friendly Service" exhibit a sense of humor, but this is by no means a comedy. He finds it tough to put a label on this play, which he began writing three years ago.
"These people had great laughs," he says. "But make no mistake there are scary moments and stomach-turning moments and I hope, emotion -- I hope people get the emotional part. Because that's what I think I'm good at, I think."
Watching his new play take shape is very different from his experience with "The Chief," which he wrote with Post-Gazette columnist Gene Collier. The one-man show had two costume changes; the most important prop was a cigar. For "Harry's Friendly Service," a bear trap is among the important props to make it to the stage.
Zellers says the collaborative process has been intense and rewarding.
"It's so fascinating to watch [actor] Ed Hyland invent Harry. It's so fascinating to watch Ted [Pappas, directing the play] move the actors around the stage but also stop and talk to them about who these people are. And I'm going, 'Oh, yes, that's right.' "
He never imagined the costumes while he was writing, "but then all of a sudden you see what Martha Bromelmeier has done and you say, 'That's such a good idea.' I'm saying that a lot these days."
Because he's best-known for "The Chief," Zellers knows that may be on theater-goers' minds when they come to "Harry's Friendly Service." He hopes people will recognize "Harry's" as the next step in his evolution as a playwright.
"Art Rooney was a fascinating and interesting character," he explains. "The kind they don't make anymore, as the cliche goes. But so are these guys. They don't have fame, but they're fascinating and interesting in their own right."
First Published May 28, 2009 12:00 am
