The Submission

The Submission, presented by MCC Theatre at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, September 11, 2011

Writing a play is a daunting task.  Getting a new play produced takes "daunting" to exponential levels.

Danny (Jonathan Groff) has been writing for a couple of years, trying to get established on the new play festival circuit.  In a unexplained fit of inspiration, he writes a fresh, powerful and highly provocative tale of a young African-American trying to escape from the life his family has led for generations.  He shows it first to his best friend Trevor (Will Rogers), an aspiring actor, who gives him the first inclination that he's written something very special.  Danny finally shows it to his boyfriend Pete (Eddie Kaye-Thomas), who echoes the praise.

Danny, however, has already made submissions to several new play festivals and has just been accepted by the renowned Humana Festival.  All sounds good, looks positive - except for one thing: Danny has submitted under a name that suggests a woman of recent African-American extract.  He justifies the action on the rationale that no festival committee would take him seriously as the author of such a play.  With the pseudonym, the subject matter doesn't conflict with its source, and it seems to have worked.

That is, until he realizes the playwright is part of the staging process at Humana.  He hires Emilie (Rutina Welsey) an aspiring actress to play his playwright and channel information to and from him as the production comes to life.

Playwright Jeff Talbot has taken this Cyrano concept and given it enough twist to make it work.  Along the way, he starts a really interesting dialogue on the comparison of discrimination among two disparate groups, gays and blacks.  His characters of Danny and Emilie are better drawn than the supporting roles of Pete and Trevor, and interestingly, none of them are thoroughly likeable.  Each presents a bristle or mean streak at one point or another.  He has a tendency to beat a dead horse, as Emilie and Danny repeat the same argument at least three times.  The first time is riveting, the last - deafening.

Mr. Groff is effective as the young man getting a little long in the tooth to be so callow.  His Danny rationalizes and justifies each miscalculation as immature young adults do.  Ms. Wesley matches him well as Emilie evolves from playing the role of the playwright to developing a real affection and feeling of ownership of Danny's script.  Messrs. Rogers and Thomas support well.

David Zinn's set functions well, serving the multiple locations and is suitably complemented by David Weiner's interesting lighting.

Director Walter Bobbie gets caught up in the argument scenes where a bit of trimming would have better served the play, but otherwise keeps things moving well.

The Submission runs through October 22.

Side Effects

"Side Effects" presented by MCC Theatre at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, June 30, 2011

(photo by Joan Marcus)

Michael Weller returns to MCC Theatre with the other side of the story from 2008's Fifty Words.  He's got a little more to say this time around, but it's the performances that make the visit worthwhile.

Bipolar Melinda (Joely Richarson) doesn't like to take her medicine, which frustrates her politically ambitious husband Hugh (Cotter Smith) to no end.  With two sons echoing Melinda's polar split (perfect son vs. screw-up son), both Melinda and Hugh maintain a total disregard for human nature that encourages this.  Their relationship devolves quickly as Hugh's political star begins to rise. Melinda is angry at being dragged along the for the ride and takes every opportunity to spoil the possibilities.  Hugh remains the definition of calm, cool and collected, until Melinda pushes him over the edge following the boys' car accident with her own breakdown.  Melinda's affair with Adam (from Fifty Words) shows up to push the plot along, but feels contrived since it's no more than a couple of one-sided telephone calls for exposition.

Ms. Richardson elevates the proceedings merely by walking on stage.  Elegant and glamorous, she builds a third dimension that would challenge a lesser talent.  Mr. Smith supports sufficiently, though not quite demonstrating skill to the level of Ms. Richardson.

Mr. Weller provides lots of emotion and gains considerable benefit with the very talented cast.  Were it not for the considerable skill of Ms. Richardson, particularly, the stilted dialog would drag even more than it did.  It's a better effort than Fifty Words, but not by much.

The exquisite living room is by Beowulf Boritt (and Ethan Allan) in warm neutrals with earthy red accents.  Jeff Croiter's lighting complements well.

Side Effects closed on July 3.

Family Week

"Family Week" presented by MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, April 9, 2010

Beth Henley has revisited this work from 2000 courtesy of Jonathan Demme, making his theatrical directing debut.
It is familiar ground for Ms. Henley, this high-estrogen tale of an emotionally shattered mother Claire (Rosemarie DeWitt), self-admitted to "the best facility in the country" to come to terms with the unsolved murder of her son.  Coming in to assist during family week are her mother Lena (Kathleen Chalfant), sister Rickie (Quincy Tyler Bernstine) and daughter Kay (Sami Gayle).

This production is something of a rework from earlier productions of this story, though I think there's still a good bit of work to be done.  Ms. Henley's knack for finding humor in the darkest of moments doesn't ring with the same intensity as found in other works, such as Crimes of the Heart, and  The Miss Firecracker Contest.

Mr. Demme has assembled a talented cast.  Ms. DeWitt gives an admirable performance as the unbalanced Claire, intoning the various mantras of the institution's psycho-babble-double-talk.  As we are continually reminded, it is "...the best treatment facility in the country," though no one ever supplies the credentials that Ms. Chalfant's mother of the patient demands.  Ms. Chalfant, ever professional, does seem to bridle a bit under the two dimensional character who seems as interested in maintaining a calm facade than opening up enough to help her struggling child.  Ms. Bernstine, playing Claire's (inexplicably black) sister, Jessica, has a grand time. Navel-gazing and self-important, she floats along for as long as she can bear it, finally abandoning the "healing" effort for another hare-brained, get rich quick scheme.  As Kay, Sami Gayle poses but never quite lands credibly as the surviving daughter, who has only attended after accepting a bribe from her father.

With this talent, however, Mr. Demme has fallen into traps that many film directors tend to when first attempting the stage by reaching for cinematic moments when a theatrical one is called for.  A prime example of this was one of Claire's emotional tirades staged such that she faced the stage left wall, closed off to most of the audience.  Film-wise, such a scene of the two characters in profile would be quite effective.  Here, we only lose the effect of Claire's emotion as we watch the back of her head.  Still, I hope he will keep at it.

Kenneth Posner's dry lighting emphasizes Derek McLane's desert spa-like setting.

Family Week runs through May 23.

The Pride

"The Pride" presented by MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, February 28, 2010

(photo: Joan Marcus)

The Pride tells two stories of Oliver, Philip and Sylvia, the first set in 1958 London and the second fifty years later.  The play opens in the earlier time when Sylvia (Andrea Riseborough) has invited her boss, Oliver (Ben Whishaw) over for drinks with her husband Philip (Hugh Dancy) before dinner out.  Tension builds quickly as Philip finds himself attracted to the not-so-closeted Oliver.  Jump-shift to 2008 and the triangle has shifted.  Oliver (sharing only the same name as his 1958 counterpart) is not dealing well with his recent break-up with Philip, the two of whom were introduced by mutual friend Sylvia. 

Each character is full of issues in both periods, creating a compelling set of tales.  Overwrought with guilt, 1958 Philip breaks off the brief, if torrid affair with Oliver and longs for "normalcy" in his life, seeking psychiatric help, including aversion therapy to overcome his sexual orientation.  2008 Philip has also broken off the relationship with his Oliver over the latter's compulsion for anonymous sex.  Sylvia stands by in relative support in both eras, ultimately setting 1958 Philip free after coming to terms with her own denial.

The stories aren't exactly parallels, but both spend a little time at the self-hatred table.  1958 Philip can't come to terms with his sexuality, longing to make it go away.  2008 Oliver's version comes in the form of his inability to reconcile his promiscuity.

The performances are fairly even, but it is Mr. Whishaw who has the meatiest roles.  His hopeful hopelessness as 1958 Oliver is tender and touchingly vulnerable.  His inner struggle as 2008 Oliver is more complex, flailing between pining for the lost love of his life and succumbing to his desires.  Mr. Dancy's Philips are significantly more reserved, one more painfully so than the other.  Ms. Riseborough's Sylvia's separate the most, proper and withheld in 1958 and a total free spirit in 2008.  Picking up the most fun is Adam James, playing an assortment of supporting roles, from a hilarious turn as a role-playing rent-boy, to a psychiatrist bordering on the sadistic.

Director Joe Mantello seems to be back on his stride in this play, using clever and thoughtful staging, almost choreographing the overlaps of period shifts from scene to scene.  He elicits strong performances with a nice focus on character.  David Zinn's functional set serves both periods nicely, avoiding any potential anachronism.  Paul Gallo's lighting evokes an effective noir-ish sensibility to the earlier period.

The show runs through March 20.

Still Life

"Still Life" presented by MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, September 20, 2009

In what will likely be referred to as Alexander Dinelaris' "therapy" play, the playwright attempts to exorcise himself of the demons which lingered after the death of his father. (Spoiler alert)

The result, though it may have been cathartic for Mr. Dinelaris, is an indulgent, bitter and rambling affair surrounding a photographer, Carrie Ann (Sarah Paulson) with "shutter" block following
the death of her photographer father Theo (Dominic Chianese), whom she adored.

Carrie Ann meets Jeffrey (Frederick Weller), a marketing wunderkind who has just saved his slimy boss Terry (Matthew Raush) from losing a major account. Terry, a Neil LaBute character in search of a play, embodies the vapid, soulless nature of "business" enabled by Jeffrey's skill as a trend analyst.

Just as Carrie Ann and Jeffrey fall in love, guess who gets cancer? Carrie Ann gets a gig shooting in Africa for National Geographic, taking along a fawning-and-unconfident-yet-very-talented student, Jessie (Halley Feiffer). Jeffrey, seeing the error of his ways after seeing Carrie's last photo series of dead animals (shot while her father was dying), determines to send his little bird on her way, not telling her of his cancer.

Then there are the subplots:

• Terry's drinking and drugs leading to an affair with a married co-worker, firing an unseen employee in his own crisis, followed by him debasing a female bartender then almost dying on the floor of the bar.
• Sarah's job teaching a college photography class in a department headed by a woman who used to date Carrie's father (Adriane Lenox)
• Jeffrey's doctor-best-friend Sean (Ian Kahn) and his wife Mary (Kelly McAndrew) who tend him through his death.
  

Sound exhausting?

It was that and tedious simultaneously.

Ms. Paulson warms the writing of this cool and aloof character. She has some tender and vulnerable moments, but can't make the creaky dream/flashback sequences make sense on her own. Mr. Weller is charming and sympathetic. Mr. Rauch is so greasy/sleazy you want to wash your hands at intermission.

Mr. Dinelaris' first act works as well as might be expected, despite the predictable curtain moment. Act II feels more like a screenplay, chopped up into too many short scenes, cutting back and forth between dreams, Africa and NYC. It might work cinematically, but just feels distracting.

Director Will Frears could tighten up the pace a bit, along with some judicious cuts to focus more on Carrie and Jeffrey's story, leaving out a number of the subplot scenes I mentioned above and reconsidering the dream sequences. David Korins' minimal set works well, though I guess David Weiner confirms that all African settings must be lit in a saffron/amber, just like "Impressionism" and "Lion King." Sarah Holden's costumes are serviceable, but the photographer-as-artist torn jeans she's put on Ms. Paulson aren't doing anyone any favors.

The Third Story

"The Third Story" presented by MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, January 20, 2009

(photo: Joan Marcus)

Charles Busch's latest effort starring himself and Kathleen Turner.

Guess who's the better diva?

The story is an interesting premise with clunky execution. To paraphrase Ms. Turner's character of Peg, it takes three attempts for a writer to create a story that will work get completed - the third story, hence the title. We get all three stories here, told as a fourth and it sometimes felt like at least two too many. The comedy is broad, as it were, with an able cast.

I did see a preview, which was prior to Ms Turner's injury, and (apparently) prior to her feeling totally comfortable being off-book. Sarah Rafferty as Verna/Princess Vasilia seemed desperately in search of Rachel York, yet only found her on occasion. Jennifer Van Dyck impressed as Dr. Constance Hudson and Scott Parkinson made a perfectly gooey Zygote.

David Gallo's sepia-toned sets and deco-eclectic furnishings provided the proper mood. Gregory Gales costumes were mostly spot-on. (What were those pajamas Ms. Turner was wearing?)

Fifty Words

MCC Theatre at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, September 13, 2008

"War of the Roses" meets "Private Lives" (Act II), without the star power of the former, nor the wit and sophistication of the latter.

Michael Weller, now running two shows off-Broadway (the other is The Beast at NYTW), shows a bit of range in these diverse subjects, but still doesn't offer anything more than a "Lifetime" movie as if produced for HBO, complete with unnecessary expletives and a bit of gratuitous nudity.

Adam (Norbert Leo Butz) and Jan (Elizabeth Marvel) appear to have it all. He's an architect with a small boutique firm. She's a former dancer now in an Internet-database start up business of her own. Their only son Greg, age 9, is off for his first sleepover with a friend. Since it's the first time they've been alone together in 9 years, it's the perfect opportunity to confess and batter each other with all the sins, regrets and recriminations that have made up their 18 year relationship.

It begins with inconsequential bickering, which doesn't quite boil up to a full argument, followed by reminiscing over how they met, which does.

He's immature and self-centered. She's cold and insensitive. Fireworks ensue culminating in a slap which leads to a significant episode of passion. He sees the passion as reconcilement. She sees it as one for the road.

Much like The Beast, Mr. Weller has an interesting premise, but it only wanders around itself for an hour and 45 minutes. His Adam and Jan are painfully co-dependent and almost bi-polar. Mood swings of 180 degrees are frequent for both, but only occasionally justified by the script.

Mr. Butz and Ms. Marvel are indisputably talented actors, and muddle through the muck valiantly. They both bring a humanity to their roles that begs the audience's indulgence. For any of you who might have seen "In Treatment" on HBO, the dynamics of their power struggle reminded me of the couple from the first season of that show.

Director Austin Pendleton does well to find the laughs in some of the horror of their battle, but as a one-act the play feels long. the pace is fine, but clocking in at one hour, 45 minutes, he either needs to trim a bit or add an intermission. Too, it's early in previews so there is time before locking the show down for the run.

Neil Patel's Brooklyn brownstone interior is spot on with the Viking range, stainless appliances and Pottery Barn fixtures and accessories, but I think Michelle Habeck as overworked the light plot. For me, the sign of good lighting is not noticing it. I've never seen a first floor kitchen with such cinematic ambiance.

Trapped In The 11th Grade

"reasons to be pretty" presented by MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, May 23, 2008

In his preface for this play, Mr. LaBute discloses that this is the first play he's written that the protagonist is "...one of the few adults I've ever tackled."

Well, according to Mr. LaBute, an adult is:

• Someone who still loves his girlfriend after she reads two pages of insults out loud to the food court at the mall
• Someone who stays friends with the jock bully who lies and cheats on his wife
• Someone who reads 19th Century American literature because he likes it
• Someone who lies to the jock bully's wife when she asks about his affair
• Someone who only summons the courage to beat up the jock bully after he insults the ex-girlfriend
• Someone who doesn't take back said girlfriend when he has the chance

Mr. LaBute presents some of his stock characters, the conflicted male lead (our "adult") and the misogynist bully. He also mixes in four direct address monologues from each of the four characters, Greg (Thomas Sadoski), Steph (Alison Pill), Kent (Pablo Schreiber) and Carly (Piper Perabo). The monologues felt like Mr. LaBute hadn't been able to figure out a more interesting way to provide the exposition of each. In the end, it feels like a repeat of high school. "Greg doesn't think I'm pretty so I'm breaking up with him." And hence, the melodrama begins.

As Greg, Mr. Sadoski apologizes his way through this "adult" role, giving it his best, but never able to raise the level above the script. Inexplicably, this Greg who reads Poe and Hawthorne on his midnight lunch breaks working in a grocery distributor warehouse with Mr. Schreiber's Kent, never went to college. This Kent is a classic LaBute bully, a muscle-headed man-child who still acts like he's the high school football captain dating the head cheerleader. Mr. Schreiber imbues his Kent with every taunt, insult and threat a bully reserves only for his best friend.

As Carly, Kent's wife, Ms. Perabo bemoans the downside of being pretty - warding off unwanted suitors, feeling stalked at every turn. She's not the sharpest knife in the drawer. In one exchange with Greg, she asks about the book he's reading. "It's Poe. It's pretty dark." he says.
She replies, "I know. It's night out." "I meant the book." he explains.

Ms. Pill plays yet another angry young woman. The play opens with an argument between her Steph and Greg following a high school-styled "he-said, she-said" exchange relayed to her by Carly. The language approaches Mametian proportions, the result of which is uncomfortable hysteria rather than exposition or character development. The talented Ms. Pill does her best with the material, but much like Mr. Sadoski, there's only so much she can do.

Director Terry Kinney also works hard with a talented cast, keeping things apace. The scene flow feels clumsy, however, bouncing irregularly through time and tripped up by the various monologues.

David Gallo's warehouse set overpowers the proceedings, distracting from the plot, though David Weiner's lighting does what it can to minimize this.

Mr. LaBute has been relatively prolific over the last several years, producing at least one new play each year. I can't wonder if a bit of focus on quality over quantity might have it merits.

From A Dark, Dark Mind

"In A Dark, Dark House" presented by MCC Theatre at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, May 19, 2007

Neil LaBute, resident playwright for MCC Theatre presents his latest effort, "In A Dark, Dark House." From the MCC Theatre's website is this synopsis (Spoiler Alert):

On the grounds of a private psychiatric facility, two family members find themselves brought face to face with each other's involvement in their traumatic past. In court-ordered rehab, Drew calls on his brother, Terry, to corroborate his story of abuse. Drew's request releases barely-hidden animosities between the two; is he using these repressed memories to save himself while smearing the name of his brother's friend and mentor? In Neil LaBute's powerful new play, these siblings must struggle to come to grips with their troubled legacy, both inside and outside their dark family home.

Dark situations, family conflict - not really new ground for Mr. LaBute in this work, but his language feels more wordy than usual. Mr. Labute seems to want a Mamet-like dialogue, but never manages to find the rythm. The result is incomfortable to hear and must be a nightmare for an actor to perform. There's also a what seems to be final revelation which I found very unclear. If I figure out exactly what it was, I'll update this review.

As Drew, Ron Livingston (better known as Berger of the break-up Post-It from "Sex and the City") feels particularly wooden. The character of Drew is practically a train-wreck and Mr. Livingston plays him in a two-dimensional daze. He musters up a bit more emotion late in the play, but at that point it's hardly believable without having seen a bit more vulnerability in earlier interactions.

Louisa Krause's Jennifer comes off as overly precocious, to me, for a 16 year old girl running her father's miniature golf course. (Maybe I need to go back and watch "Pretty Baby" or "Taxi Driver" again to see just what young girls are thought to be capable of.) Even though she's matching wits with a fully grown man, she comes off as more than just wise for her years. Perhaps it's a result of uneven writing, but the result is not totally successful.

It is Frederick Weller who carries the weigh of this play. His Terry (who, by the way, neither looks, nor sounds, nor carries himself in any way that would support the notion that he and Drew are actually brothers) is a spring wound so tightly that the audience is always on the edge of their seats wondering what will set him off and what the fallout will be. From his first entrance, followed shortly by a bit of wrestling with Drew on the hospital grounds, to his seduction (although I'm not sure who really ends up seducing whom) of Jennifer, to his mini explosions in the final scene with Drew, Mr. Weller gives us a man tortured into becoming the facade of a creepy bully.

Director Carolyn Cantor does what she can with a mostly-talented cast and a script that's not quite up to its potential. Right now, it's a long, intermissionless 90 minutes. Maybe a bit of work in the final scene can tighten things up, or at least keep one from noticing the time.

Beowulf Boritt's outdoor multi-level sets show grass sod sliced away that reveal long roots, perhaps indicative of how deep the issues go. I think his interpretation may imply more success in communicating that than Mr. LaBute's script. Ben Stanton's lighting is an appropriate complement.