"FRONTING THE ORDER" A LESS INNOCENT 1950s

Before there was the internet, there was the encyclopedia.

Instead of going to Google for a word search, people went to the alphabet – the alphabet printed on the spines of those encyclopedia volumes beautifully bound and artfully embossed. You pulled the chosen volume out of its special place of reverence in your well-appointed home, found your subject nicely arranged alphabetically and read away.

This fountain of knowledge was wonderfully reliable. It never locked up. You could always open the pages. There was no such thing as an encyclopedia repair shop. You bought it and used it, hopefully for a long and fruitful lifetime.

In the 1950s, these encyclopedias also represented American optimism. A conviction that everyone's lives would be getting better and brighter.

If you were poor, you sacrificed so your children would become rich. You bought them an encyclopedia so they could be filled with intelligence, just like the other rich people.

These are the dreams and values recalled in Warren G. Bodow's somewhat autobiographical new play "Fronting the Order." The first public performances are running now at Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave.

Like many young men of that time, Bodow spent a summer selling these printed promises of prosperity door-to-door, hoping to find enough believers in this American dream who would also buy into his pitch.

"Fronting the Order" is set in the summer of 1959, in hard scrabble Orleans, New York, a tiny town way upstate on the St. Lawrence River. More specifically, in an artfully detailed Orleans diner equipped with those unforgettable Formica tabletops and red plastic chairs, all standing on shiny chrome legs.

Serving coffee is the attractive but worried waitress Evie (Denise Blum). She has been waiting a very long time for that certain man who would take her away from all this. When four nicely dressed guys come in (three of them young enough to be interesting), her future suddenly has potential. When these guys start talking about encyclopedias, she figures they must be educated.

But "Fronting the Order" isn't about the flight of Cupid's arrows in that difficult era before online dating. "Fronting the Order" is about…fronting the order. We learn this was a shady strategy common in the gritty world of encyclopedia salesmen who were always getting unreasonable sales quotas crammed down their parched throats.

Bodow spends considerable time going over "the pitch," a company-required technique for getting its salesmen through the door and into the living room of wary families. There's also a lot of conversation about whether or not "the pitch" is clever business practice or just plain old bald-faced lying.

The four guys involved in all this trade talk are Murph (Bill Epstein), the veteran salesman whose success depends on keeping his door-to -door sales crew of college-age guys appropriately motivated to make more sales; David (Joshua Silvain), the college golden boy who could do no wrong; Mitch (Dan Colecchia), a blue-collar college boy determined to make good; Pete (Tenoch Gomez), working hard to prove his lack of college will not hold him back in the world.

"Fronting the Order" wants to capture a sense of what it felt like just before the America euphoria of winning World War II began collapsing into the accusations and confusion of weakened ideals unable to hold back the building frustrations of losers in a class war for better opportunities. For them, buying an encyclopedia just wouldn't begin to be enough.

Yes, Bodow's play is still a work in progress. All of the characters need more development. The issues they confront need to go beyond "the pitch." The play itself needs a ton more tension added to its relationships.

Evie has the makings of becoming a proto-feminist. Pete already has the early personality of a revolutionary. David will become a Young Republican and Mitch, with a little motivation, could become a free-thinking spokesman for the anti-war movement. Or a hippie driving a VW bus with a wild paint job.

Maybe Evie will take a bigger leap, becoming one of the first earth mothers of the dawning decade. She could hook up with Mitch, head for Woodstock and start a sandal shop. The possibilities are fun to think about.

Beowulf Alley Theatre is developing a strong reputation for encouraging new playwrights, and developing an audience eager to be a part of this encouragement. Deciding to join with Wellangoode Productions to showcase "Fronting the Order" adds more muscle to that reputation.

Performances continue in Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave., at 7:30 p.m.  Friday and Saturday, April 15-16, continuing at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, April 20-23; the only matinee is 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 17. 

All tickets are $19. For details and reservations, 882-0555, or visit www.beowulfalley.org