Walking Shadow's 'Whale' flounders on a sea of unhappy anger

Bloated with holiday cheer? Stop by and visit the sad sacks who crowd Charlie's apartment in Samuel D. Hunter's "The Whale," now playing in a Walking Shadow production at Mixed Blood. These denizens will curdle any giddiness you might have accumulated in our holly, jolly season.

Hunter's play is about a small island of outsiders sledding through life's fates on a cynical edge. Oddly, like that Dickens show we see this time of year, "The Whale" is a story about a grotesque man who allows romantic tragedy to wreck his ability to enjoy life.

Scrooge's transformation, though, is a long, clean shower compared with the instant of Charlie's epiphany.

Zach Curtis plays Charlie, 500-plus pounds, beached on the couch of his stinky Idaho apartment. He tutors English online — without the camera on, lest students focus on his appearance.

He is visited only by his nurse friend Liz (Jennifer Maren). She badgers him to mix in a salad now and then or go to the hospital when his heart seizes up.

A Mormon missionary (Zach Garcia) finds in Charlie a captive potential convert. Can religion save this whale from himself?

Charlie's 17-year-old daughter, Ellie (Katie Adducci), spews invective in their first meeting in 15 years. He has summoned her for a visit and her skin crawls at being in his presence (Charlie likes the abuse because at least she's being honest). Charlie's ex-wife, Mary (Julie Ann Nevill), stops by to share a cocktail of bile and complain about their hellion daughter.

Hunter dances many different ideas and relationships around the floor — the importance of being honest in expression, the struggle of gays in religious environments, absent fathers and the mental illness that drives a man to eat himself to death. Walking Shadow's production, directed by Amy Rummenie, guides us along and helps us understand intellectually.

Curtis wears well the suit of Charlie's weight (designed by Amy Hill). Curtis is a large man and with his whiskers currently in full bloom, he looks great. He also knows how to use the suit; you wince when he gets up on his walker and you unfortunately can almost visualize what he's going to do in the bathroom. Adducci is acidic as the daughter, Maren conjures some compassion for Charlie but she, too, is angry, angry, angry. Garcia is too phony as the missionary. Nevill looks thin and worn out as the ex-wife, which actually is about perfect.

"The Whale" is in many ways a good play, but Rummenie's production illustrates the hate and anger so well that we never feel invested. The loathing experienced by these characters collapses in on itself rather than reaching out and making us care.

We should be rooting for Charlie, but Curtis plays this role with a curious lack of consequence. There seems not a desperate note in his evenhanded performance and even amid his constant whine that he is sorry for most everything in his life, his regret feels flat.

Walking Shadow loves this tough stuff, and thank goodness they have brought "The Whale" to the Twin Cities. Producing partner Mixed Blood has made its name in staging theater about "the other" and this play certainly is about that. But we need a character who will bring us inside this world, who will grab our heart and sympathy. This is not a plea for sentimentality. It is an argument for showing the raw, emotional devastation people can experience in a cold world.

Graydon.Royce@startribune.com • 612-673-7299