Police Deaf Near Far, Stage Left Theatre. Without Robert Schleifer’s volcanic performance as angry, charismatic young deaf activist Stinger, David Rush’s new play could easily have devolved into an issues-driven melodrama. Instead, under Drew Martin’s deft direction, it offers a tense, engrossing 90 minutes of theater.
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Stinger is based on Eric Smith, a hearing-impaired man killed by a policeman during a routine traffic stop in Forest View in 1996. Swaggering about the stage, Schleifer plays him with captivating ferocity mitigated by the crushing vulnerability he demonstrates in more private moments. Whether he’s arrogantly seducing sign-language interpreter Roberta, angrily confronting a parent getting a cochlear implant for his son, or frustratedly trying to communicate with a disaffected policeman, Schleifer is consistently hypnotizing. So much so, in fact, that one wishes even more stage time had been given to him and less to the adeptly performed but familiarly sardonic, weary cops.
