Harry Davis Lifts Heavy Weight of Young Male Experience

by Lynne Stevens

Picture a gym in your garage. A bench press and a barrage of rock music to fuel the heavy lifting.

Two young men, old friends from junior high, meet to talk about their schoolmates and what everyone is doing in their lives these days. They are ambivalent about happiness.

Nolan (imposing Matthew Kropschot) is going to help Clark get “jacked,” while Clark (touching Andre Amarotico) is supposed to coach Nolan as he trains for a body building competition. Full of angst, Clark, is barely recovered from a breakup with his girlfriend and a mental health crisis. His anguish about hair loss shows he is still a mess.

Nolan, looking like a long-haired hero with chiseled physique on the cover of a romance novel is anything but confident. His obsession with physical perfection has led him to injecting steroids to enhance his muscle growth. We see their effect on his personality as he explodes with rage at Clark.

We see the two young men trade places emotionally as they work out to improve themselves. Their heart to heart in the gym about who they are lends a sweetness to the relationship as they talk and encourage one another.

A scene where Clark is helping Nolan shave his shoulders comes straight out of Spartacus, although it’s not nearly as erotic. The intimate scene comes off as almost comic because it’s so tender.

Nolan’s beautifully choreographed “7 Compulsory Poses” is a show in itself.

What does it mean to be a man? The body is just our outside. But the hard to locate “inside” finally comes out and messes up these striving young men.

Director Gary Graves’s tight production does justice to the remarkable debut script by Harry Davis. “Push/Pull” packs a wallop.

 

“Push/Pull” by Harry Davis, directed by Gary Graves, stage management by Natalia Rivera-Ramos, costumes by Tammy Berlin, scenic design/construction by Joe Nemeth, sound by Gregory Scharpen, lighting by Gary Graves & Liora Jacob, at Central Works, Berkeley. Info: centralworks.org – to April 6, 2025.

Cast: Andre Amarotico (Clark) & Matthew Kropschot (Nolan).

Banner photo: Nolan (Matthew Kropschot) wants to get his body-building Pro-card, and asks his school-friend Clark (Andre Amarotico) to help him win the amateur competition. Photos: Robbie Sweeny