‘Prodigal Son’ @ Second Chance Players
—Jan Farrington
MR. SCHMITT: I want you to look out for him.
MR. HOFFMAN: I don’t mind.
MR. SCHMITT: He’s the most interesting mess we have this year.
Jim Quinn is definitely “a mess”—or at least, a fish out of water at this small Catholic prep school up in the mountains of New Hampshire. It’s 1965, and he’s lived in the Bronx all his life, being tossed out of school after school for fighting, blasphemy, and generally driving the teachers mad. He writes poems, reads everything, and wants to be a hero, “a great man.”
JIM: I always had a book. I was fifteen. Do you remember fifteen? It was a special, beautiful room in hell.
I can instantly see this kid being the young John Patrick Shanley, whose play—this play— Prodigal Son (2016) just closed after a week of performances from Second Chance Players at Kitchen Dog Theater’s new venue on Algiers St. (It’s one of my new favorite spaces, and a fine spot to enjoy composer Efren Paredes’ original music before and during the show.)
Altogether, Prodigal Son was a strong and viscerally engaging production of the 90-minute play—with special credit to debuting director Caleb Ross, who must have a good ear for the playwright’s quirky, crackling dialogue style. (Shanley’s best-known stage plays and films are, in no particular order: Doubt: A Parable, Moonstruck, Joe Versus the Volcano, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Outside Mullingar and more).
Then too, Second Chance was smart, lucky or both in casting Jacob Waters as their Jim Quinn. Waters fully captures the electricity and charisma of the boy, his hair-trigger violence (“You’ve beaten up half the freshmen class!”), his grab-bag of passionate interests (poets, philosophers, Nazis), his crushing insecurities—and his juicy Bronx accent. Teachers dread debating him (he never gives up) or trying to get at the truth (about thefts, drinking, etc.). If a lie will serve him better, Jim will tell it; all’s fair, he thinks, in working a system he’s sure is rigged against him: rich-kid classmates, by-the-book teachers. He’s very much the me-me-me teen, careless of the people trying hard to open up a new world and a bigger life for him.
Jeffrey Miller plays Carl Schmitt, the school’s founder and headmaster, a quiet religious leader looking to send the world some “fine young men.” He sees Jim’s potential, but isn’t sure if—or how—he’ll live up to it. Schmitt’s wife Louise (Stephanie Stark), who takes Jim for a one-on-one poetry class at her kitchen table, seems curiously compelled to help him—and at the same time, help her inflexible husband to a better place. English teacher Alan Hoffman (Hunter Howard) is definitely Jim’s champion. Hoffman first interviewed Jim for the school, and feels a special interest in his success. Or is that all? The trio of “adults” are puzzles we struggle to understand—so it’s a relief to also have Patrick Britton’s warm-hearted performance as Jim’s roommate Austin (Schmitt’s nephew), who “gets” Jim and sticks with him—even when being his friend is tough.
They create a solid and compelling quartet around our would-be hero, would-be writer, would-be world tamer. So, we really shouldn’t be surprised (though we are) when Shanley suddenly has them come at Jim from all corners of the stage at once. What’s happening? It’s a shift of perception that returns us to the opening lines, when Jim speaks directly to us. Now, we sense, he’s not simply remembering. This is Jim the writer, taking charge of the story and the people he will write about…whether or not they like it. And it’s essential Shanley stuff, not merely concerned with what happened then, but thinking of how in the fluidity of time itself—and especially theatre time—“everything that happens is still happening.” Did you find your place in the world, Jim? I think so, John Patrick.
Some news: Second Chance Players executive director Bill Shea announced Sunday that the company has been chosen to participate in ATTPAC’s “Elevator Project”—a prestigious pick that will give them the chance to perform (at the Wyly, most probably) in the Dallas Arts District during the 2026-2027 season.
WHEN: May 7-9, May 10, 2026
WHERE: Venues will vary; check website
WEB: secondchanceplayers.org
