The program says he is playing "The Host," but there's never a question that actor Pearce Bunting is present to channel the spirit and thoughts of Garrison Keillor.
"Radio Man," Keillor's first stage play, largely dispenses with fictional pretense, as "The Host" gets himself ready for "A Prairie Home Companion" and then goes "On the Air."
The result is that "Radio Man," which opened Saturday at History Theatre in St. Paul, finds its rhythm in the characters and situations that faithful listeners have heard for 40 years. Not much new there.
Keillor allows his title character moments of introspection, remorse and doubt through scenes that take place in real time, in memory and in imagination, and this is where we would hope "The Host" finds a moment of transformation or clarity. Does he really want to quit the show — as he shouts in frustration during a private moment off the air — or is everything hunky dory in the land of Wobegon?
Director Ron Peluso steers this multipurpose vessel into an entertaining harbor. Bunting and young actor Jonah Harrison play out scenes from childhood and from the glory days of radio.
Here's where a shy kid, who considered himself weird (in that era's vernacular), fumbled through relationships with girls but also found inspiration for his career. Set designer Chris Johnson has built a storybook village, with church steeples and a big full moon, that seems perfect.
Keillor hops lightly on personal subjects, careful never to reveal too much. His religious upbringing, for example, remains a source of fond humor rather than a portal into what makes him tick.
The large, dramatic set piece is the radio show, and in particular "The News From Lake Wobegon." The news reports on the death of Byron Tollefson — a local man who has an unsavory history. This moment occupies a lot of time, as if Keillor is asking us to ponder the conflicting emotions a well-known fellow can raise.
