WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.700 You know, usually when you take your car into 00:00:01.700 --> 00:00:06.400 a repair shop, there's this comforting expectation 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:09.179 of pure binary precision. Oh, absolutely. It's 00:00:09.179 --> 00:00:10.880 a very black and white environment. Right. You 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:13.000 hear a weird rattle, the mechanic pops the hood, 00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:16.699 shines a flashlight on a frayed serpentine belt, 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:19.219 and just points to it. Broken or not broken? 00:00:19.539 --> 00:00:23.100 Exactly. Broken or not broken. It's clean. It's 00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:26.280 a problem you can solve by simply swapping out 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:28.890 a part with a wrench. It's deeply satisfying 00:00:28.890 --> 00:00:31.769 because, well, it's visible. Mechanical failures 00:00:31.769 --> 00:00:33.770 play by the rules of physics. Yeah, they follow 00:00:33.770 --> 00:00:35.950 the rules. We like our problems to be easily 00:00:35.950 --> 00:00:38.750 categorized, you know? Diagnosed and repaired. 00:00:39.070 --> 00:00:41.450 But what happens when the thing that's fundamentally 00:00:41.450 --> 00:00:45.770 broken isn't the alternator, but the guy holding 00:00:45.770 --> 00:00:47.630 the wrench? Oh, that's a whole different ball 00:00:47.630 --> 00:00:49.649 game. Right, because when you step into the world 00:00:49.649 --> 00:00:52.630 of unresolved trauma, fractured friendships, 00:00:53.270 --> 00:00:56.439 and like... Toxic pride? That need little toolkit 00:00:56.439 --> 00:00:59.179 is completely useless. Completely. There is no 00:00:59.179 --> 00:01:01.700 diagnostic manual for a collapsing human being. 00:01:02.179 --> 00:01:04.319 No, there really isn't. When the machinery breaking 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:06.439 down is the emotional state of the people in 00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:10.780 the room, you are operating in total, uh, total... 00:01:10.620 --> 00:01:14.599 diagnostic muddy waters. You can't just unbolt 00:01:14.599 --> 00:01:16.760 a decade of resentment and install a new one. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:20.299 I love that unbolting resentment and that is 00:01:20.299 --> 00:01:22.879 exactly where we are heading today. I want to 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:25.480 welcome you, yes you listening right now, to 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:28.500 this custom tailored deep dive. We've got a really 00:01:28.500 --> 00:01:30.420 great one today. We do. We have a fascinating 00:01:30.420 --> 00:01:32.400 stack of sources in front of us digging into 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:35.180 the history, the script, and the really unlikely 00:01:35.180 --> 00:01:39.519 journey of a 2011 play called Small Engine Repair. 00:01:39.819 --> 00:01:42.480 Written by John Polano. Right, John Polano. And 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:45.239 our mission today is to figure out how this incredibly 00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:47.939 claustrophobic, just aggressively gritty play 00:01:47.939 --> 00:01:50.579 about blue collar guys in a New Hampshire repair 00:01:50.579 --> 00:01:53.780 shop exploded. Out of nowhere, really. Completely 00:01:53.780 --> 00:01:55.799 out of nowhere. How it went from an intimate 00:01:55.799 --> 00:01:57.939 Los Angeles theater to an off -Broadway hit, 00:01:58.340 --> 00:01:59.920 and eventually fought its way into becoming a 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:03.000 feature film. Which is an incredibly rare trajectory. 00:02:03.420 --> 00:02:07.519 It is. and we are going to look at how it survived 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:11.599 the totally unpredictable turbulent waters of 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:14.349 Hollywood scheduling along the way. Okay. Let's 00:02:14.349 --> 00:02:17.310 unpack this. I am very ready for this. And to 00:02:17.310 --> 00:02:20.110 get us fully immersed, you'll notice the visual 00:02:20.110 --> 00:02:22.710 backdrop for today's deep dive has shifted. Oh 00:02:22.710 --> 00:02:26.129 yeah, it's grim in here. It's a dimly lit, violently 00:02:26.129 --> 00:02:29.289 unglamorous mechanics garage. We've got, you 00:02:29.289 --> 00:02:31.669 know, oil stains seeping into the concrete. Tools 00:02:31.669 --> 00:02:34.250 just haphazardly scattered everywhere. Exactly. 00:02:34.650 --> 00:02:36.870 And heavy shadows stretching across the floor. 00:02:37.099 --> 00:02:40.580 It perfectly reflects the tense, almost suffocating 00:02:40.580 --> 00:02:42.599 atmosphere of the story we're exploring. I mean, 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:44.819 I can practically smell the stale beer and the 00:02:44.819 --> 00:02:47.080 exhaust fumes right now. That's the vibe. So 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:48.879 let's establish the geography and the stakes 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:51.180 here. We are in Manchester, New Hampshire. It 00:02:51.180 --> 00:02:53.539 is cold. It's remote. And we are locked inside 00:02:53.539 --> 00:02:56.620 this small engine repair shop long after closing 00:02:56.620 --> 00:02:59.530 time. Very isolated. Yeah, very isolated. The 00:02:59.530 --> 00:03:01.650 narrative centers around three guys. I've got 00:03:01.650 --> 00:03:04.289 Frank, who owns the shop and is the one orchestrating 00:03:04.289 --> 00:03:07.250 this mysterious late night gathering. Right, 00:03:07.310 --> 00:03:09.889 he's the host, basically. Then there's Swaino 00:03:09.889 --> 00:03:12.969 and Packy, and these are three ex -high school 00:03:12.969 --> 00:03:16.030 buddies. But the text makes a very specific point 00:03:16.030 --> 00:03:19.729 of identifying them as, quote, past their prime. 00:03:20.150 --> 00:03:22.770 Which is such a devastatingly loaded phrase, 00:03:22.870 --> 00:03:24.789 isn't it? It really is. It hurts to even hear 00:03:24.789 --> 00:03:27.620 it. Acer Prime isn't just about age. I mean, 00:03:27.860 --> 00:03:31.599 it's a psychological trap. How so? Well, it immediately 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:34.240 tells you that these characters are living their 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:36.960 lives entirely in the rear -view mirror. For 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:39.680 guys like this, high school was the apex of their 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:42.219 existence. Right, the glory days. The brotherhood, 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:44.939 the lack of responsibility, the perceived dominance, 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:47.740 that was their peak. Everything since then has 00:03:47.740 --> 00:03:51.039 been a slow, grinding decline. Oh, yeah. They 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:53.719 are hoarding their past in a room that is literally 00:03:53.719 --> 00:03:56.199 designed for fixing the present. That is the 00:03:56.199 --> 00:03:58.060 perfect way to look at it. They're surrounded 00:03:58.060 --> 00:04:00.639 by broken machines, but they don't have the emotional 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:03.800 vocabulary to fix their own lives. Exactly. So 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:06.080 they're drinking, they're hanging out, and Frank 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:08.139 clearly has a secret agenda for the night that 00:04:08.139 --> 00:04:10.159 he isn't sharing. He's got a plan. He's got a 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:13.300 plan. And then the catalyst walks through the 00:04:13.300 --> 00:04:17.439 door. A young guy named Chad. The interloper. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:21.680 Right. Chad is a preppy, well -connected college 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:25.000 jock. and his arrival instantly ignites what 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:27.800 the source material describes as a long simmering 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:30.220 animosity. Which is a great phrase. It really 00:04:30.220 --> 00:04:32.720 is. The whole setup feels to me like a locked 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:35.319 room mystery mixed with a pressure cooker. You 00:04:35.319 --> 00:04:38.779 take a confined space, you trap these older working 00:04:38.779 --> 00:04:40.939 class guys who feel completely left behind by 00:04:40.939 --> 00:04:43.620 society, and you throw in a privileged college 00:04:43.620 --> 00:04:46.379 kid who has his entire life ahead of him. It's 00:04:46.379 --> 00:04:49.279 a brutal class collision. So I have to ask, why 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:52.000 do you think a setting like an off -hours engine 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:55.040 repair shop is the perfect crucible for exploring 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:58.079 abstract concepts like masculinity and regret. 00:04:58.379 --> 00:05:00.639 Well, what's fascinating here is how the playwright 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:03.060 uses the physical environment to amplify that 00:05:03.060 --> 00:05:05.699 collision. Our repair shop is distinctly utilitarian. 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:07.800 It's just function over form. Right. It's coated 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:10.300 in grease and dirt. It represents the grit of 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:12.639 unresolved history. And then you drop Chad into 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:15.779 it. In his nice clothes. Exactly. Chad represents 00:05:15.779 --> 00:05:18.759 the pristine, upwardly mobile outside world, 00:05:18.939 --> 00:05:21.279 a world these three older men have no access 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:24.439 to. But the text is very careful with that phrase, 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:27.879 long simmering animosity. It hints that Chad 00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:30.199 is really just the match. Oh, interesting. So 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:33.040 he's not the bomb itself. No. The actual dynamite 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:36.180 is the history between Frank, Sueno, and Packie. 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:38.980 The tension isn't just about the outsider. It's 00:05:38.980 --> 00:05:42.139 about themselves. It's about the rot inside their 00:05:42.139 --> 00:05:45.100 own friendship, the toxicity of their shared 00:05:45.100 --> 00:05:47.240 masculinity. Right. Because when men like this 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:49.279 don't know how to process their own failures, 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:51.579 they just turn on each other. or they turn on 00:05:51.579 --> 00:05:53.920 the easiest target in the room. Always. It's 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:56.519 deflection. Deflection, totally. So we have this 00:05:56.519 --> 00:05:59.899 bleak, freezing New Hampshire setting. But the 00:05:59.899 --> 00:06:02.319 wild irony of this play's production history 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:04.959 is that it didn't start anywhere near New England. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:08.019 Not even close. Not even close. To trace its 00:06:08.019 --> 00:06:10.879 origins, we have to transition to the glitzy, 00:06:11.259 --> 00:06:13.279 completely unexpected place where it first found 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:16.240 an audience, sunny Los Angeles, California. Which 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:19.060 is a massive geographic and cultural whiplash. 00:06:19.139 --> 00:06:21.939 It really is. You are taking a story about forgotten 00:06:21.939 --> 00:06:24.660 blue collar New Englanders and premiering it 00:06:24.660 --> 00:06:26.680 in the capital of the entertainment industry. 00:06:27.160 --> 00:06:31.360 Exactly. It premieres in March 2011 at a venue 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:34.240 literally called Theater Theater. Great name. 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:37.120 I know, right? It's produced by Rogue Machine 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:41.579 Theater. Now, this is an intimate 99 -seat Los 00:06:41.579 --> 00:06:44.019 Angeles theater. Very small. The kind of place 00:06:44.019 --> 00:06:45.959 where you are sitting so close to the stage, 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:49.040 you can practically feel the actors breathing 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:51.560 on you. There's nowhere to hide. Right. And it's 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:54.000 directed by Andrew Block, and the playwright, 00:06:54.180 --> 00:06:56.519 John Polano, not only wrote the script, but he's 00:06:56.519 --> 00:06:59.050 starring in it as Frank. The shop owner. Which 00:06:59.050 --> 00:07:01.750 adds a whole other layer of intensity. And we 00:07:01.750 --> 00:07:03.910 should note that Polano and Block had a crucial 00:07:03.910 --> 00:07:06.370 history together. Oh, did they? Yeah, they had 00:07:06.370 --> 00:07:09.209 previously collaborated on a 2010 play called 00:07:09.209 --> 00:07:11.589 Lost and Found. OK, so they knew each other's 00:07:11.589 --> 00:07:14.110 rhythms. Exactly. In the theater, especially 00:07:14.110 --> 00:07:17.730 in a piece this raw and volatile, trust is everything. 00:07:18.009 --> 00:07:21.250 A director and a playwright with a shared shorthand 00:07:21.250 --> 00:07:24.870 can push the actors into much darker, more uncomfortable 00:07:24.870 --> 00:07:27.310 emotional spaces. Because they know they're safe. 00:07:27.500 --> 00:07:29.519 Right, because they know the safety net is there. 00:07:30.180 --> 00:07:32.279 The production team also did something remarkable 00:07:32.279 --> 00:07:34.939 here. Instead of just, you know, suggesting the 00:07:34.939 --> 00:07:37.680 setting, they essentially built a functioning, 00:07:37.980 --> 00:07:40.779 suffocating New Hampshire garage right in the 00:07:40.779 --> 00:07:43.040 middle of Southern California. Oh, wow. The lighting, 00:07:43.220 --> 00:07:46.319 the sound design, it all conspired to trap the 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:48.860 audience in that room with those men. That sounds 00:07:48.860 --> 00:07:50.800 incredible. And then you look at the original 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:54.120 cast. You've got Polanoas Frank, Michael Redfield 00:07:54.120 --> 00:07:57.680 playing Paki. Josh Hellman playing Chad, the 00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:00.660 college kid. Yep. And playing Swayno, the alpha 00:08:00.660 --> 00:08:04.279 male of the older group, is Jon Bernthal. A huge 00:08:04.279 --> 00:08:07.779 casting win. Massive. The play opens, and it 00:08:07.779 --> 00:08:10.129 doesn't just do well. I mean, it explodes. It 00:08:10.129 --> 00:08:12.569 gets massive critical acclaim, the run gets extended 00:08:12.569 --> 00:08:15.050 for months, and it eventually transfers to the 00:08:15.050 --> 00:08:17.110 Beverly Hills Playhouse. Where Donnie Smith actually 00:08:17.110 --> 00:08:19.569 stepped in to replace Bernfall eventually. Right, 00:08:19.629 --> 00:08:22.149 right. And it just sweeps the local theater awards. 00:08:22.569 --> 00:08:24.649 We're talking Ovation Awards for Best Play, Intimate 00:08:24.649 --> 00:08:27.230 Theater, Acting, Ensemble, Director. The Los 00:08:27.230 --> 00:08:29.589 Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards. Yes. For 00:08:29.589 --> 00:08:31.829 Production, Direction, Writing, and the Backstage 00:08:31.829 --> 00:08:33.909 Garland Awards. Which is a monumental feat, you 00:08:33.909 --> 00:08:37.250 know? The LA... theater scene is incredibly saturated. 00:08:37.370 --> 00:08:39.649 Oh, I bet. And getting critics to universally 00:08:39.649 --> 00:08:43.129 agree on a gritty independent production is rare. 00:08:43.309 --> 00:08:45.370 It is, but here's where I have to push back a 00:08:45.370 --> 00:08:49.009 little bit on the narrative of pure organic theatrical 00:08:49.009 --> 00:08:52.610 success. Okay, lay it on me. The sources openly 00:08:52.610 --> 00:08:55.950 acknowledge that the play's popularity in 2011 00:08:56.250 --> 00:08:59.169 was heavily boosted by the fact that John Bernthal 00:08:59.169 --> 00:09:02.269 was starring as Shane on AMC's The Walking Dead 00:09:02.269 --> 00:09:05.429 at the exact same time. Which was huge. Huge. 00:09:05.870 --> 00:09:08.750 The Walking Dead was a global phenomenon. So 00:09:08.750 --> 00:09:11.250 here's where it gets really interesting. A play 00:09:11.250 --> 00:09:13.470 about New Hampshire townies becomes a smash hit 00:09:13.470 --> 00:09:15.610 in Hollywood, partly because one of the actors 00:09:15.610 --> 00:09:18.210 is famous for fighting zombies on TV. It's quite 00:09:18.210 --> 00:09:22.080 the paradox. It is. So my question is, with Bernthal 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:24.919 bringing in the ANC TV crowd, does that kind 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:27.620 of star power risk overshadowing the actual narrative 00:09:27.620 --> 00:09:30.080 of a small ensemble play? Doesn't it just become 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:32.519 the John Bernthal show? It's a completely valid 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:34.679 skepticism. And you're right, star power absolutely 00:09:34.679 --> 00:09:37.159 changes the gravity of a room. It has to. Celebrity 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:40.090 brings foot traffic. People who would never set 00:09:40.090 --> 00:09:42.710 foot in a 99 -seat theater will line up around 00:09:42.710 --> 00:09:44.490 the block to see the guy from their favorite 00:09:44.490 --> 00:09:47.830 AMC show. But if we connect this to the bigger 00:09:47.830 --> 00:09:50.490 picture and look at how the awards were distributed, 00:09:50.990 --> 00:09:53.690 it paints a very different picture. Foot Traffic 00:09:53.690 --> 00:09:56.529 buys tickets, but it does not win you the Acting 00:09:56.529 --> 00:09:59.149 Ensemble Award from the notoriously discerning 00:09:59.149 --> 00:10:02.570 Los Angeles theater critics. That's true. An 00:10:02.570 --> 00:10:04.549 ensemble award means everyone pulled their weight. 00:10:04.889 --> 00:10:08.309 Exactly. The fact that the entire group won ensemble 00:10:08.309 --> 00:10:10.769 awards proves that the collective chemistry and 00:10:10.769 --> 00:10:12.669 the writing held up under the spotlight. That 00:10:12.669 --> 00:10:15.309 makes sense. Polono also won for his writing. 00:10:15.950 --> 00:10:18.309 When a TV star brings an audience into the room, 00:10:18.730 --> 00:10:20.830 the audience usually leaves talking about the 00:10:20.830 --> 00:10:23.750 star. Right. Right. But when the text is brilliant, 00:10:24.070 --> 00:10:26.110 the audience leaves talking about the story. 00:10:26.570 --> 00:10:28.870 The script had to deliver the goods and the awards 00:10:28.870 --> 00:10:31.730 confirm that it did. So Bernthal got them in 00:10:31.730 --> 00:10:34.120 the door. But Polano's dialogue kept them in 00:10:34.120 --> 00:10:36.639 their seats. That's exactly it. OK, I see that. 00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:38.620 It's like using a megaphone to get people's attention. 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:40.480 But once they're listening, you actually have 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:42.399 to have something profound to say. Which they 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:45.580 did. And clearly, small engine repair did. So 00:10:45.580 --> 00:10:48.159 they have this massive, undeniable success on 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:51.039 the West Coast. The momentum is huge. And the 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:54.539 logical next step for any hit American play is 00:10:54.539 --> 00:10:57.659 New York. The holy grail. Right. Off -Broadway 00:10:57.659 --> 00:11:00.769 is the ultimate proving ground. But the very 00:11:00.769 --> 00:11:03.330 Hollywood success that injected so much life 00:11:03.330 --> 00:11:06.370 into the L .A. run suddenly becomes its biggest 00:11:06.370 --> 00:11:09.929 existential threat. Ah, yes. The double -edged 00:11:09.929 --> 00:11:12.110 sword of casting actors whose screen careers 00:11:12.110 --> 00:11:16.370 are actively exploding. Yes. So, MCC Theatre 00:11:16.370 --> 00:11:19.559 in New York steps up. They plan a major off -Broadway 00:11:19.559 --> 00:11:22.919 run for their 2012 to 2013 season. Very prestigious. 00:11:23.320 --> 00:11:26.039 Very. The dream scenario is in place. Polono 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:27.820 and Bernthal are going to reprise their roles. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:29.519 They're going to take this fraternal magic they 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:31.320 built in LA and drop it right into New York. 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:34.460 But then television comes calling again. Both 00:11:34.460 --> 00:11:37.679 Polono and Bernthal get cast in a major TNT miniseries 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:40.960 called Mob City. Oh, wow. And in the hierarchy 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:43.899 of entertainment scheduling, television production 00:11:43.899 --> 00:11:46.970 schedules are the apex predator. They really 00:11:46.970 --> 00:11:49.429 are. Theatre companies simply do not have the 00:11:49.429 --> 00:11:52.350 financial leverage to force an actor to turn 00:11:52.350 --> 00:11:54.690 down a major network television role. You just 00:11:54.690 --> 00:11:57.629 can't compete. So MCC Theatre has to delay the 00:11:57.629 --> 00:12:01.409 play. They push it to the 2013 to 2014 season. 00:12:01.570 --> 00:12:04.389 Which is tough. You can almost feel the momentum 00:12:04.389 --> 00:12:07.580 stalling, but then it gets worse. Pushing the 00:12:07.580 --> 00:12:10.100 schedule back creates a secondary conflict. By 00:12:10.100 --> 00:12:13.840 July 2013, it's officially announced that John 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:16.039 Bernthal has to drop out of the New York run 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:19.740 entirely. He has to cede the role of Swaino due 00:12:19.740 --> 00:12:22.539 to scheduling conflicts. That is a seismic blow 00:12:22.539 --> 00:12:24.840 to a production. It's devastating. Think about 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:26.679 this from John Polono's perspective. You've written 00:12:26.679 --> 00:12:29.320 this deeply personal, incredibly aggressive play. 00:12:29.659 --> 00:12:32.539 You spent months in a tiny LA theater bleeding 00:12:32.539 --> 00:12:34.960 and sweating with this specific group of guys. 00:12:35.059 --> 00:12:37.580 Building that trust. Building this hyper -specific 00:12:37.580 --> 00:12:40.360 raw chemistry. It's like a rock band losing their 00:12:40.360 --> 00:12:43.000 lead guitarist right before a massive international 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:45.799 tour. That is a great analogy. You know exactly 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:47.779 how the other guy plays. You know his rhythms. 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:51.679 And suddenly he's just gone. So what does this 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:54.559 all mean for Polono? He wrote this thing, acted 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:57.460 in it. build the chemistry in LA, and now he 00:12:57.460 --> 00:13:01.039 has to rebuild that fraternal magic with a mostly 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:04.639 brand new cast on the East Coast. How does a 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:07.379 play survive that? Well, it survives because 00:13:07.379 --> 00:13:09.860 the foundation wasn't the actors. The foundation 00:13:09.860 --> 00:13:12.600 was the architecture of the script itself. Interesting. 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:16.240 This is the ultimate stress test for any playwright. 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:19.559 If a play only works because of the chaotic lightning 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:22.259 in a bottle charisma of its original cast, then 00:13:22.259 --> 00:13:24.740 it isn't a great play. It's at a great performance. 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:27.379 It's a great performance event, exactly. The 00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:29.679 true test of dramatic literature is whether it 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:32.320 can survive recasting and reinterpretation. So 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:34.700 the script is essentially the blueprint. Precisely. 00:13:34.820 --> 00:13:37.000 If the blueprint is structurally sound, a new 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:39.159 director and a new crew of actors can build the 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:41.259 house. Right. Because when the play finally opens 00:13:41.259 --> 00:13:44.659 at the Lucille Lortel Theater in November 2013, 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:47.740 it is a radically altered landscape. Very different 00:13:47.740 --> 00:13:50.480 team. Polono is still there, playing Frank. But 00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:53.129 the rest of the cast is brand new. James Ransone 00:13:53.129 --> 00:13:55.429 takes over as Paki. Keegan Allen steps in as 00:13:55.429 --> 00:13:58.929 Chad. And stepping into the massive void left 00:13:58.929 --> 00:14:02.289 by Bernthal is James Badgedale playing Sueno. 00:14:02.549 --> 00:14:04.610 All incredibly talented actors, though. Oh, for 00:14:04.610 --> 00:14:06.570 sure. Plus, they have an entirely new director, 00:14:06.730 --> 00:14:09.070 Joe Bonney. And Joe Bonney is a heavyweight in 00:14:09.070 --> 00:14:11.490 the New York theater scene. But bringing her 00:14:11.490 --> 00:14:13.730 in means changing the entire geometry of how 00:14:13.730 --> 00:14:16.669 the play is staged and felt. And yet, it worked. 00:14:16.789 --> 00:14:19.580 Yeah. The fact that Joe Bonney and this new cast, 00:14:19.720 --> 00:14:22.960 Badgedale, Ransun, Allen, could step into this 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:25.639 grimy repair shop, find their own distinct rhythms, 00:14:25.940 --> 00:14:28.139 and make the play explode all over again proves 00:14:28.139 --> 00:14:30.519 that Polono's themes are universally resonant. 00:14:30.620 --> 00:14:33.360 They aren't tied to one person. Exactly. The 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:35.820 concepts of toxic masculinity, the haunting nature 00:14:35.820 --> 00:14:38.179 of regret, and the desperation of feeling left 00:14:38.179 --> 00:14:41.240 behind by society aren't reliant on John Bernthal 00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:42.899 being in the room. They're human conditions. 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:44.879 They are human conditions. And the New York Theatre 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:46.960 Establishment recognized that. It certainly did. 00:14:47.159 --> 00:14:49.559 The Off -Broadway production secured prestigious 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:52.779 nominations, including a Drama Desk Award for 00:14:52.779 --> 00:14:55.200 Set Design by Richard Hoover. Oh, that's huge. 00:14:55.320 --> 00:14:58.000 And a Joe A. Callaway Award for Joe Bonney's 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:01.120 directing. The play proved it wasn't just a vehicle 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:03.700 for one specific group of friends. The engine 00:15:03.700 --> 00:15:06.659 itself was built to last. I see what you did 00:15:06.659 --> 00:15:10.159 there. The engine. Couldn't resist. So, having 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:13.259 conquered both coasts, proving it could thrive 00:15:13.259 --> 00:15:15.720 in the intimate, celebrity -adjacent spaces of 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:18.960 Los Angeles, and then surviving the brutal, discerning 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:21.799 crucible of off -Broadway in New York, the story 00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:24.279 of Small Engine Repair evolves again. It's the 00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:26.360 gift that keeps on giving. It moves from the 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:29.340 temporary, ephemeral world of live theater into 00:15:29.340 --> 00:15:32.690 a permanent medium. Yes, the transition to immortality. 00:15:32.789 --> 00:15:35.570 In 2014, the play was officially published by 00:15:35.570 --> 00:15:38.090 Dramatists Play Service. Which is a very big 00:15:38.090 --> 00:15:40.149 deal. It's a huge milestone because it means 00:15:40.149 --> 00:15:42.850 theater companies, colleges, and community theaters 00:15:42.850 --> 00:15:44.950 anywhere in the world can buy the script and 00:15:44.950 --> 00:15:47.429 perform it. But the truly staggering part of 00:15:47.429 --> 00:15:50.370 this timeline happens a full decade after its 00:15:50.370 --> 00:15:52.289 original premiere. This is my favorite part of 00:15:52.289 --> 00:15:55.429 the story. It's wild. A feature film adaptation 00:15:55.429 --> 00:15:58.870 is produced in 2019 and eventually released on 00:15:58.870 --> 00:16:02.409 September 10th, 2021. Ten years later. Ten years 00:16:02.409 --> 00:16:05.529 later. Yeah. And the person who wrote the screenplay? 00:16:06.450 --> 00:16:08.929 John Polono. The person who directed the feature 00:16:08.929 --> 00:16:14.600 film. John Polono. That level of ongoing... uncompromising 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:17.840 creative control in the film industry is vanishingly 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:19.179 rare. I mean, it's almost unheard of, right? 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:22.419 Almost unheard of. Usually when Hollywood buys 00:16:22.419 --> 00:16:24.919 a successful independent play, the very first 00:16:24.919 --> 00:16:27.340 thing they do is politely thank the playwright, 00:16:27.580 --> 00:16:30.340 hand them a check, and hire a seasoned screenwriter 00:16:30.340 --> 00:16:31.980 to adapt it. Right, they take the keys away. 00:16:32.100 --> 00:16:34.950 Exactly. Then they hire an established film director 00:16:34.950 --> 00:16:37.570 and they cast A -list movie stars who look great 00:16:37.570 --> 00:16:40.429 on a poster, completely abandoning the actors 00:16:40.429 --> 00:16:42.509 who originated the roles. Capilano didn't let 00:16:42.509 --> 00:16:45.009 that happen. He roped the play, he starred in 00:16:45.009 --> 00:16:46.929 it on stage, he weathered the storm of the New 00:16:46.929 --> 00:16:49.470 York recasting, he published it, and ten years 00:16:49.470 --> 00:16:51.889 later he demanded the right to write and direct 00:16:51.889 --> 00:16:54.490 the feature film himself. The sheer patience 00:16:54.490 --> 00:16:56.870 and tenacity required to hold onto a project 00:16:56.870 --> 00:16:59.570 for a decade until you have the leverage to make 00:16:59.570 --> 00:17:01.950 it on your own terms is incredible. It really 00:17:01.950 --> 00:17:05.890 is. And to top it all off, he didn't cast shiny 00:17:05.890 --> 00:17:08.950 new A -listers for the film. He brought the original 00:17:08.950 --> 00:17:11.190 Los Angeles cast back. That's the best part. 00:17:11.430 --> 00:17:15.049 Polono, Bernthal, Hellman, he got the band back 00:17:15.049 --> 00:17:17.809 together. And this raises an important question 00:17:17.809 --> 00:17:20.470 about artistic ownership, because this is where 00:17:20.470 --> 00:17:23.250 the artistic journey of the play becomes deeply, 00:17:23.690 --> 00:17:25.730 profoundly meta. Oh, I like where you're going 00:17:25.730 --> 00:17:27.869 with this. Think about the underlying premise 00:17:27.869 --> 00:17:31.250 of the script. Small Engine Repair is fundamentally 00:17:31.250 --> 00:17:33.769 a story about ex -high school friends past their 00:17:33.769 --> 00:17:36.349 prime getting together in a room to confront 00:17:36.349 --> 00:17:39.829 their shared messy history. Right. By reuniting 00:17:39.829 --> 00:17:42.990 the original 2011 Los Angeles cast to shoot a 00:17:42.990 --> 00:17:46.069 film 10 years later, Polano executed the ultimate 00:17:46.069 --> 00:17:48.990 commentary on his own theme of fraternity. Because 00:17:48.990 --> 00:17:51.650 the actors themselves had literally aged a decade. 00:17:51.970 --> 00:17:54.289 Exactly. They aren't just playing old friends. 00:17:54.309 --> 00:17:57.309 They are old friends. The guys who bled and sweat 00:17:57.309 --> 00:18:00.779 together in that that tiny 99C LA theater back 00:18:00.779 --> 00:18:03.859 in 2011 were now standing on a movie set together. 00:18:04.339 --> 00:18:07.019 They had lived 10 more years of life. That's 00:18:07.019 --> 00:18:09.339 so true. They had experienced massive career 00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:12.539 successes, inevitable personal failures, and 00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:14.859 they likely harbored their own real -life new 00:18:14.859 --> 00:18:18.000 regrets. You cannot manufacture that kind of 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:20.400 history in a rehearsal room. No, you really can't. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:23.190 It's earned. When Bernthal and Polono look at 00:18:23.190 --> 00:18:26.230 each other on screen in that 2021 film, they 00:18:26.230 --> 00:18:30.049 are drawing on a decade of actual lived brotherhood. 00:18:30.589 --> 00:18:33.190 It infuses the film with a layer of authenticity 00:18:33.190 --> 00:18:35.710 that is incredibly rare. Yeah, I bet. They didn't 00:18:35.710 --> 00:18:37.789 just tell a story about the weight of time. They 00:18:37.789 --> 00:18:40.490 allowed time to literally weight them down before 00:18:40.490 --> 00:18:42.829 capturing it on camera. That is such a brilliant 00:18:42.829 --> 00:18:45.690 observation. Life imitating art, imitating life. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:48.740 The text was aging right alongside the people 00:18:48.740 --> 00:18:51.140 who created it. It takes the whole project from 00:18:51.140 --> 00:18:53.980 being just a cool indie movie to an actual document 00:18:53.980 --> 00:18:56.819 of their lives. It's the absolute purest execution 00:18:56.819 --> 00:18:59.180 of the concept. Which brings us to the end of 00:18:59.180 --> 00:19:01.400 our journey today. To pull all these threads 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:04.289 together. I mean, Small Engine Repair stands 00:19:04.289 --> 00:19:06.890 as a massive testament to the raw power of a 00:19:06.890 --> 00:19:09.670 TypeScript and deeply relatable human themes. 00:19:10.009 --> 00:19:13.029 Truly. It's a reminder that you don't need sprawling, 00:19:13.369 --> 00:19:16.609 multi -million dollar budgets, massive CGI set 00:19:16.609 --> 00:19:19.970 pieces or exotic locations to captivate an audience. 00:19:20.329 --> 00:19:22.960 You really don't. Sometimes, the most compelling 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:26.460 drama in the world is just a closed -off, greasy 00:19:26.460 --> 00:19:29.480 repair shop, three guys who realize their best 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:32.099 days are behind them, and a simmering secret 00:19:32.099 --> 00:19:34.200 waiting to detonate. That's all you need. The 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:36.160 tension of human connection and the catastrophic 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:39.299 failure of it is entirely enough to carry a story 00:19:39.299 --> 00:19:42.279 from a tiny stage in Los Angeles all the way 00:19:42.279 --> 00:19:44.710 to a future film. I think tracking the evolution 00:19:44.710 --> 00:19:46.769 of this play leaves us with a lot to chew on, 00:19:47.089 --> 00:19:49.250 particularly regarding that core premise of friends 00:19:49.250 --> 00:19:51.130 who are past their prime. Yeah, definitely. I 00:19:51.130 --> 00:19:52.829 want to leave you with a final thought to mull 00:19:52.829 --> 00:19:55.970 over, a concept we might call unreliable nostalgia. 00:19:56.150 --> 00:19:58.730 Unreliable nostalgia. OK. I want you to think 00:19:58.730 --> 00:20:01.950 about your own life. When you reunite with old 00:20:01.950 --> 00:20:04.450 friends from your youth, people you haven't seen 00:20:04.450 --> 00:20:07.609 in years, who are you actually talking to? Oh, 00:20:07.609 --> 00:20:10.349 that's a good question. Are you genuinely connecting 00:20:10.349 --> 00:20:14.190 with the complex, changed? perhaps damaged person 00:20:14.190 --> 00:20:16.869 sitting in front of you today? Or are you just 00:20:16.869 --> 00:20:19.009 projecting onto them, interacting with the ghost 00:20:19.009 --> 00:20:21.670 of who they used to be? Wow. How much of that 00:20:21.670 --> 00:20:24.650 shared fraternity is a genuine present day connection? 00:20:24.910 --> 00:20:27.529 And how much of it is just a desperate mutual 00:20:27.529 --> 00:20:31.150 refusal to let the past go? It's hard. Are you 00:20:31.150 --> 00:20:33.430 actually trying to fix the engine of your friendship 00:20:33.430 --> 00:20:35.690 or are you both just staring at a broken machine 00:20:35.690 --> 00:20:38.690 pretending it still runs? Wow. Are you talking 00:20:38.690 --> 00:20:41.569 to the person or just the ghost of the past? 00:20:42.250 --> 00:20:45.170 That is a heavy, perfectly fitting question to 00:20:45.170 --> 00:20:47.849 end on. We were going to leave you to ponder 00:20:47.849 --> 00:20:50.289 that one on your own. I want to enthusiastically 00:20:50.289 --> 00:20:52.390 thank you for joining us on this exploration 00:20:52.390 --> 00:20:54.730 today. It's been a pleasure. We love taking these 00:20:54.730 --> 00:20:57.190 deep dives with you, sifting through the sources 00:20:57.190 --> 00:20:59.829 to find the real, beating heart hiding beneath 00:20:59.829 --> 00:21:02.690 the surface of the story. Remember, sometimes 00:21:02.690 --> 00:21:05.170 the most complicated machinery to fix isn't under 00:21:05.170 --> 00:21:07.470 the hood of a car, it's the people standing around 00:21:07.470 --> 00:21:09.930 it. Take care, stay curious, and we'll talk to 00:21:09.930 --> 00:21:10.430 you next time.