Joe Calarco’s Walter Cronkite is Dead is set in the Reagan National Airport in September 2010. When the lights go up, one of the two characters, Margaret, is lost in her thoughts while sitting alone at a table for two. A carafe of wine and two glasses—one of them empty—are on the table.

The announcement that comes over the public address system is the last thing travelers want to hear: “Due to severe weather up and down the East Coast all flights coming in and going out of Reagan National Airport will be delayed indefinitely.” Will Shaw provides the announcer’s professional-sounding voice in the current staging by the West End Players Guild.

The other character is a chatterbox named Patty. When she enters, she is weighed down by her baggage but buoyed by her impossibly cheery disposition. Patty’s prattling on her cell phone is so irritating to Margaret that she says “Yes,” when Patty asks whether the unoccupied seat at the table is taken. Margaret changes her mind a little later after seeing how difficult it will be for Patty if she can’t have the seat. This is the first of many reversals in the play.

Patty and Margaret are close in age but far apart geographically, socially, and politically. The interaction between two women is circuitous. There are many stops, starts, and fits of temper along the way to finding common ground.

The surprising turns in the conversation are a strength of the play. Making those turns convincing is a strength of the absorbing West End production. Under Anna Blair’s astute direction, Kate Durbin as Margaret and Leslie Wobbe as Patty respond perceptively to each change in the emotional temperature. Nothing seems forced in the compelling transitions.

The performances and the blocking have much more variety than one would expect in a two-character, one-setting play. The actors and the staging make a strong case for the play’s message about the value of being open to people who are different.

The program does not list set designer or costume designers. I would guess that Wobbe and Durbin are responsible for their own well-chosen clothing—very casual for Patty, very formal for Margaret. The helpful lighting and sound are by Amy Ruprecht and Mary Beth Winslow respectively.

Anna Blair did the props. The signage is a hoot for the lounge in the airport named after Ronald Reagan. The place is called “The Gipper.” Its signature drinks are “The Jelly Bean” and the “Just Say No-jito.”

Walter Cronkite is Dead continues through December 10 at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union Boulevard.

—Gerry Kowarsky

Photo by John Lamb

From the left, Leslie Wobbe as Patty and Kate Durbin as Margaret in Walter Cronkite is Dead.