author: Chris Pence
Life on The Ice Floe: Quitting Time at The Baltimore Theatre Project
In today’s world, discrimination is an all-to-prevalent problem that plagues modern society. It has many faces, including by race, sex, religion, and political affiliation. One of the faces least addressed in today’s world is age discrimination. Agism is an issue that many people face daily, yet few people are ready to discuss its true impact. Playwright Jack L. B. Gohn puts the debate on agism front and center with Quitting Time, the newest venture by the Theatrical Mining Company at the Baltimore Theatre Project.
First presented for the Baltimore Playwrights Festival, Gohn’s Quitting Time is the story of Robert Litwin, a science professor who is suing his university for discrimination in trying to force his retirement due to age. With discrimination lawyer Benton Wainwright at his side, Litwin strives to hold on to the career that defines him, arguing relentlessly with his slightly less than lawful department chair Kim LeMire and her savvy but sensible attorney Tamsin Cole. Struggling to reach a settlement, the quartet gets more than they bargained for in the search for self-worth and equity in the workplace.
Directed by Barry Feinstein, the cast of six paints a reality that few tend to notice in the modern workforce. Witty and sardonic, the actors deliver laugh lines to elicit chuckles rather than uproarious laughter, keeping the focus serious. Set Designer and Constructor Bush Greenbeck offers a practical set aiming for utility rather than flash. With a few simple chairs and desks, Greenbeck creates Benton’s office (stage right), Kim’s office (stage left), and the university meeting room at center stage. This set up helps to heighten the drama in some scenes, while embracing the monotony that defines the everyday rat race that Robert aims to keep in his life. During a scene where characters are discussing settlement, Feinstein incorporates Greenbeck’s set to show Robert and Kim’s separate debates with their lawyers in a back-to-back brawl, illustrating that their concerns aren’t quite as different as they might think. The following scene finds Robert and Kim alone in a hallway, down center stage, hashing out their differences without their lawyers, showing that they need to find mutual ground to come to a solution. Stage Manager Herb Otter adds to the ambiance with jazzy house music as the audience enters.
Professor Robert Litwin (Tony Colavito) is a sarcastic older man, fed up with Kim’s attempts to force his retirement. Colavito brings a less professional, somewhat sloppy air to Litwin, portraying his dedication to his position and his tenure with startling truth. Robert is shown as that professor we all had, who clearly should’ve retired some time ago, yet still performs his duties proficiently. A grumpy old man ala Walter Matthau or Jack Lemon, Robert stubbornly refuses to settle, demanding respect from Kim and the department. His strained marriage and sex life commands that his career is his only reason to live, and his work in brain cancer leads him to reject conventional religion in favor of science.
Robert’s adversary and debate partner, Kim LeMire (Cherie Weinart) is just as stubborn as Robert, and just as driven in career. A middle-aged department chair, Kim isn’t above skirting the rules in order to advance her department. Weinart’s Kim is woman on the verge of a breakdown, reeking of self-imposed desperation and straining to justify firing Robert in favor of newer, cheaper professors so she can balance the department budget. Weinart perfectly illustrates the hypocrisy that so many cling to, refusing to see her agism toward Robert as comparable to the prejudice Kim faces due to her belonging to the LGBTQ+ community.
Fighting Kim’s losing battle, Tamsin Cole (Molly Mayne) is an attorney, and mother, who “chose” to work for the university so as to have time to dedicate to her family. Tamsin serves as Kim’s conscious, quick to cover her legal indiscretions in front of Robert, but quicker to point them during their private meetings. Mayne’s Tamsin is professional to a fault, a lawyer who clearly took notes out of Casey Novak’s book. She speaks as though presenting arguments as though she were debating before a judge, though secretly yearns for meaning in her career, while also preserving her family life.
While Robert’s story stands front and center, it also serves as a frame to depict the story of Benton Wainwright (William Walker). A discrimination lawyer representing Robert, Wainwright is the true foil to almost every character. Benton sees himself in Robert and spends the show contemplating his own aging and mortality. His respect for Tamsin comes from a deeper desire to return to his own youth, when his zest for life was driven by his now estranged family. Walker is the quintessential emotional cross-section of the cast, pulling from the other actors’ interpretations to create the true neutral everyman in Benton. Walker’s Benton is relatable to practically anyone, an understandably frustrated character using his dedication to his cause, his dedication to his family, and his devotion to his religion in his fight to understand his own decisions surrounding aging and mortality.
Billie Taylor stands as a pillar of strength, as well as a view into Benton’s thoughts and doubts, as Benton’s late wife Tonya. A victim of brain cancer, Tonya is still an important part of Benton’s life, serving as his guardian angel. Taylor’s performance serves as a haunting yet reassuring reminder of the impact that family plays on our lives. Her costumes also help to illustrate Benton’s grief, from a black funeral bombazine in early scenes, to a flirty sundress as Benton finally accepts the inevitable, knowing that Tonya would support his late-life decisions.
Rounding out the cast in supreme fashion is Pierre Walters as Benton’s partner Andre Bonaparte. A slick, young hotshot, Andre sees little more in his profession than money, trying to convince Benton to retire so he can take on bigger businesses rather than the more meaningful cases to which Benton had dedicated his career. Sporting a leather suit jacket, Walters is the classic slimeball lawyer who wears his skewed motives on his sleeve, affirming his desire to hire a younger woman to replace Benton with a devious smile worthy of Johnny Bravo. Andre also serves as the schadenfreude for the show, squirming under pressure once Benton begins putting him on the spot, leaving the audience the desire to see his face once Benton reveals who his true replacement would be.
Engaging and endearing, Jack L. B. Gohn’s Quitting Time serves as a stark reminder of the agism that many face, as well as a reassurance that our lives should define our work, and not the other way around
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes with one intermission
Quitting Time plays through March 2nd 2025 with Theatrical Mining Company in association with Baltimore Playwrights Festival at Baltimore Theatre Project located at— 45 W. Preston Street in Baltimore, MD. Tickets are available by calling the box office at 410-752-8558 or by purchasing them in advance online.
