By Wendy Carson

Joy is a fairly typical New Yorker. She is a designer who works from home and is still single at 36. What makes her special is that she just received a heart transplant. Like many recipients, she wants to know more about the man who literally gave her his heart, so she writes a note to the donor’s family thanking them for their generosity and giving her details in case they too wish to meet with her.

This is the dramedy “The Tin Woman,” by Sean Grennan, presented by Epilogue Players, directed by Nicole Amsler.

Joy (Laura Gellin) finds that as her body quickly heals, her mind and soul still have issues. Meanwhile, family members of the donor, Jack, deal with their loss each in their own way. His mother, Alice (Tanya Haas) and sister Sammy (Lauren Janning), each feel meeting the recipient might bring some sense of closure to them as a family. However, his father, Hank (Eric Bryant), being true to his generation and upbringing, has no desire to deal with the loss at all.

Add in Joy’s overly perky nurse (Sarah Froehlke) and goofy but supportive best friend Darla, (Mary DeBoer) – as well as an almost forgotten chance encounter – and you have the makings for a bittersweet tale of love, loss, and second chances.

Since Jack (Matt McKee) is ever present in everyone’s minds throughout the whole story, the play has that character present in every scene, observing and occasionally interacting with characters. Still, he is merely a “presence” in the story, not some sort of ghostly specter. This conceit made for a more powerful story and further helped to illustrate the importance of organ and tissue donation in our world. He also gets to speak in flashback scenes.

I was also impressed with Amsler’s decision to cast two different actresses for each of the minor roles (Nurse/Darla) as opposed to having the same person play both. This allows for each performer to fully inhabit the character and each gave an outstanding turn in their own right.

I must say that the acting in this show is so spot on, the delicacy of each performance could easily be overlooked. We all know someone who is the embodiment of Hank, Sammy, and Alice, and each actor portrays them perfectly. Haas presents the mother who must be a pillar of strength, despite the cracks. Janning’s Sammy is a young woman who didn’t have to completely grow up, with a job as a pre-K teacher and openly idealistic and emotional at her parents’ home. Bryant plays Hank bitter, cynical, and self-medicating, but even when angry, never abusive.  

Few of us personally know someone in Joy’s situation but could imagine ourselves in her shoes. I feel Gellin did an amazing job of bringing her to life. She embodies what Joy refers to as an “interesting sense of humor,” using it to mask the feelings she must reckon with.

However, I feel that Jack’s character is really the key performance, with McKee sheer perfection in his approach. He manages to show his feelings so subtly with just a change of expression or shift of his eyes and while his mannerisms speak volumes, he never detracts from the story unfolding onstage, just accentuates it.

This show is a wonderful peek into the ins and outs of the donation process and a must-see for anyone on the fence about whether or not this is a viable option for themselves.

Performances of “The Tin Woman” are Thursday through Sunday, April 23-26, at 1849 N. Alabama St. (corner of 19^th and Alabama), Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at epilogueplayers.com.