Maskers’ ‘Resident Alien’ chases away midwinter blues

There’s a new alien in Belfast. Not the kind who sneaks in to buy American gas. This one’s curious, cuddly, gregarious and green.

He’s the star of “Resident Alien,” a comic fable that kicks off the Belfast Maskers’ 2003 season. Written by Stuart Spencer, the play contrasts one Earthling’s desire for refinement against the alien’s hunger for pop culture.

Spencer, now a teacher at Sarah Lawrence College and New York University, grew up in small-town Wisconsin and earned his bachelor’s degree from Lawrence University in Wisconsin. He began winning prizes for his work while still an undergraduate. “Resident Alien” premiered at the 1998 Humana Festival of New American Plays.

The Maskers’ production, which opened last weekend, chases away frigid winter woes and leaves the audience warm from laughing at its own foibles. Performed on a bare stage with a few essential set pieces, director Robert Hitt focuses Spencer’s play on five quirky characters that dominate the story, rather than special effects.

The playwright has said that Michael, the main character, and the alien are the two conflicted halves of himself – one reads the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard while the other watches a “Friends” episode marathon on cable TV. The play’s humor is deeply rooted in that clash.

Richard Tourigny portrays the alien as a cross between a middle-aged, mellowed-out Mork from “Mork and Mindy,” the sitcom that launched Robin Williams’ career, and John Lithgow’s high-brow Dick Solomon of “Third Rock from the Sun.”

Tourigny gives Spencer’s alien an Everyman quality that is touchingly charming and immensely likable. His comic timing is finely honed and the punch lines delivered by other actors often would fall flat if not for Tourigny’s perfect setups. Of this ensemble, he’s the most at ease on stage, and although he could easily steal every scene he’s in, Tourigny remains always a team player.

Michael, the cultivated K-Mart clerk whose son is taken away in the alien spaceship, is played by Peter Conant. The actor, who’s appeared in many Maskers productions, captures the frustration of a man stuck in a rut of his own making that he just can’t seem to climb out of. Conant is best when Michael simply can’t help himself from correcting his ex-wife’s grammar as she curses at him or forcing “Anna Karenina” on the sheriff who’s trying to keep from arresting him.

Tracy Lord is the only woman in the show and, unfortunately, the production’s only weak link. She shrieks her way through Act One, then whines her way through Act Two. Her portrayal of Priscilla, Michael’s ex-wife who becomes the object of alien affections, is one-dimensional and grating. In her performance, Lord never reveals to the audience why every man in town, including the green one, wants into her bed.

Matt Lamstein as Priscilla’s beer-guzzling second husband, Ray, Michael Fletcher as the sheriff and Max Graham as the kidnapped boy round out the cast. All work well within the ensemble, with Lamstein standing out in his portrayal of an ordinary guy content with his lot but confounded by others’ unhappiness.

Director Hitt captures the harmless fun and dry wit of Spencer’s tight script in a production that blows away the midwinter blues for a couple of hours. Despite a few flaws, “Resident Alien” is a fine start for the Belfast Maskers’ 17th season.

“Resident Alien” will run through March 2. For information, call 338-9668.