Beyond Fast Cars, Booze: Men Face Midlife Crisis

What do men do when they hit midlife crisis? In John Bishop’s “The Trip Back Down,” revived by the Company of Angels, they settle into mediocrity by using alcohol as an anesthetic. If this sounds grimly depressing, it is, but director Lee Magnuson manages to grind out some laughs despite the angry tone of the over-long script.

Eight years after leaving his wife Joann (Pamela Walker) and daughter Jan (Susan Foster) to pursue his dreams on the NASCAR race circuit, Bobby (Bernie Van De Yacht) is going back home to Mansfield, Ohio. He never made the big-time and decides that 94% of those filling the stands are there in hopes of seeing a driver crash and die.

Bobby gets an overly enthusiastic greeting from his brother’s friend, Chuck (Joel Christian replacing Tom Slovick), a racing fan, and his brother’s wife (Kate Asner) standing in for Loanne Bishop). His brother Frank (Michael Erger) makes it through each day by washing away the memory of his mundane factory job with booze, sometimes with bowling as an added diversion. It’s a pattern not so different from Bobby’s own life of bars and bimbos.

Set in 1975, with flashbacks to 1957 and to years between, Bishop’s script has some clever, funny lines, and Jerry Giles charms as Bobby’s happy-go-lucky racing friend. Van De Yacht is a bit stiff, as if he’s only the straight man for Erger and Giles. Magnuson could tighten up the action.

Don’t expect warm revelations in this tale of male menopause. Instead of hot flashes, hot tempers flare and burn out as these men are resigned to their respective ruts.

BE THERE

“The Trip Back Down,” Angels Theatre, 2106 Hyperion Ave., Silver Lake. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Dec. 19. $15. (818) 955-8084. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.