Careful attention to detail makes Renaissance's 'Cost of Living' a winning production

Martyna Majok's "Cost of Living," which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2018, is justly known for putting two complex characters with physical disabilities on stage, whom the playwright insists must be played by two physically disabled actors.

Perhaps Renaissance Theaterworks' new production will also help Majok's play become more widely known as a vivid story about urban loneliness and the perilous ways that working-class people are just one accident or bad decision away from homelessness.

Ben Raanan directed the new Renaissance show, which continues through Feb. 12. Both the production and the script are blue-collar efforts themselves. There is nothing flashy or pyrotechnic happening here, but there is careful and respectful attention to detail, whether it be shaving a face or serving a microwaved piece of pizza to a lonely stranger.

In alternating segments, Ani (Regan Linton), now a quadriplegic after an accident not long ago, guardedly accepts help from her soon-to-be ex-husband Eddie (Bryant Bentley), a truck driver shelved by a DUI. Meanwhile, well-off doctoral candidate John (Jamie Rizzo), born with cerebral palsy, hires Jess (Valentina Fittipaldi) as a caregiver. In both cases, the men want to connect emotionally, but the women hold back: Ani because she has wounds from their marriage, Jess because she's hiding a painful secret.

Initially, both Eddie and Jess have to be told to stop and actually listen to the person they're trying to help. We watch them learn how to give care, with Jess shaving John and giving him a shower, Eddie tending to Ani during a bath. These scenes are often quiet and unfold slowly, but the audience was hushed and paying close attention.

For one pair, caregiving leads to a closer emotional bond; with the other, to a painful misunderstanding.

Bentley and Linton make a convincing working-class duo, her prowess in swearing equal to his. The ice first thaws for them when he makes a joke related to her disability, and they both laugh. Later, they share the play's scariest moment, one which made a portion of the audience gasp aloud.

Rizzo made John a believable blend of critical intelligence and naivete. Fittipaldi's Jess, by many measures this play's most troubled character, bristled with prickly defensiveness. When Eddie and Jess meet in the play's final scene, Bentley and Fittipaldi show us that people using wheelchairs aren't the only ones who need care.

Kudos to scenic design Sarah Ross and her collaborators for the bathtub that slides on and off the stage.

Denver's Phamaly Theatre Company, where Raanan is artistic director, and Milwaukee's Pink Umbrella Theater Company collaborated with Renaissance on this production and related accessibility efforts.

Renaissance will present a sensory-friendly performance at 2 p.m. Jan. 29; a sensory guide can be downloaded from the play's page on the Renaissance website. An ASL-interpreted performance will take place at 2 p.m. Feb. 5. An accessibility guide can also be downloaded from the Renaissance website.

If you go

Renaissance Theaterworks performs "Cost of Living" through Feb. 12 at 255 S. Water St. For tickets, call (414) 278-0765 or visit r-t-w.com.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Careful work pays off for Renaissance Theaterworks in 'Cost of Living'