Nothing’s Ever Gone: The Garbologists Review

Marlowe (Bebe Nicole Simpson) and Danny (Jeff Brooks) in The Garbologists at Theaterworks Hartford.

One man’s trash is another man’s mongo. Lindsay Joelle’s The Garbologists, set in the streets of New York, brings us through the grime of the other circle of life—the lifespan of a person’s stuff by way of that cycle’s end. This play champions themes of grief, invisibility, and the value of the discarded; from the people that society doesn’t have the eyes to see, to the things that make them luminous. Theaterworks Hartford’s intimate playhouse sets the stage for the unboxing of truths for sanitation workers across the nation as told by Danny and Marlowe.

Danny (Jeff Brooks), the seasoned San-man, is “an acquired taste—like blue cheese.” Marlowe (Bebe Nicole Simpson) is an Ivy League-educated, junior garbologist on a senior route. Danny and Marlowe are new to each other, drawing lines and toeing them as they find their footing in their new partnership.

Brooks brings the world of sanitation engineers to life with best practice monologues and sensei-like inspirational nonsense that turns out to have more merit than it seems. Brooks toggles between ridiculous and redemptive with comedic precision, chanting surface level foolishness like “read the bag,” only to shed actual light on insightful occupational wisdoms. Simpson’s expressions are the pictures worth as many words as we need. Paired with the delicate delivery of Marlowe’s personal truths, we, the audience, are able to read every unspoken word, from the frustration to the pain on her face and the moments of joy in-between.

Marcelo Martínez García’s set design is reminiscent of drives through Brooklyn’s Flatbush Avenue, accurately depicting the boarded-up buildings, perpetual scaffolding, and bags of rubbish lining the street. The lighting and sound design of John Lasiter and Germán Martínez elevates the authenticity of the experience from the low hum and head lights of the Mack truck to the background chatter of the New York streets.

Joseph Shrope’s costume design is a bold and clean cross between proper uniform and a souped-up fit you might see some Gen Z-er sporting in homage to sanitation workers and a recyclable way of life. This, intercut with outside of work clothes that highlights Danny and Marlowe’s personalities and circumstances, giving nuanced identities to workers who sometimes feel invisible in their day to day.

The Garbologists is a brilliant 90-minute production that cycles through the grief, joy, insecurity, and vulnerabilities of life from the lens of those who see our worst. It is a reminder that “nothing is ever gone.”

The Garbologists’ run has ended, but be sure to visit https://twhartford.org/ to see what else Theaterworks Hartford’s season has to offer.