Molly Sweeney

"Molly Sweeney" at The Irish Repertory Theater, February 5, 2011

I haven't had much exposure to the work of Brian Friel, other than the revival of Faith Healer with Cherry Jones and Ralph Fiennes in 2006.  I remember that piece primarily because of the excellent performances turned in by Mr. Fiennes and Ms. Jones, as well as Ian McDiarmid. 

For that reason and that I had yet to see a production from Irish Rep, I was excited to attend Molly Sweeney. 

If only this production had met my high expectations.  This tale of a woman, blind since early childhood, follows a similar pattern as Mr Friel's Faith Healer, but in this play the monologues of the title character (Geraldine Hughes), her husband Frank (Ciaran O'Reilly) and the surgeon, Mr. Rice (Jonathan Hogan) are randomly interspersed as each characters tells his/her version of the story.  The result is a documentary-style disclosure of the events in Molly's life. 

Director Charlotte Moore has divided the small Irish Rep stage into thirds, characters trapped in their respective boxes and waiting their turn to speak.  The performances were competent and delved into the emotions of the premise, but like the story, they were not compelling.  The medical details are slightly interesting, but I found myself wondering early in the first act why this was a play. The story is neither inherently theatrical nor Irish, inspired by An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales by neurologist Oliver Sacks.

Molly Sweeney has just extended its run through April 10.  Tickets available at The Irish Repertory Theater website.

Gruesome Playground Injuries

"Gruesome Playground Injuries" at Second Stage Theatre, February3, 2011

Despite some excellent make-up effects, Rajiv Joseph's two-hander about two friends who spend their lives meeting up at the emergency room with injuries ranging from nausea to sprained angles to missing teeth and eyes doesn't quite find a focus.  (I could practically hear Darren McGavin saying, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid.")  Mr. Joseph adds to the confusion by bouncing the plot in non-sequential five year increments.

Pablo Schreiber is Doug, whose injuries are always much more physically damaging than those of Kayleen, played by Jennifer Carpenter.  Both make a valiant effort to bring credibility to their roles, but the evening is undercut the painfully overlong transitions when the actors must change their costumes and sets themselves.   Ms. Carpenter is, to quote a casting director I once heard, "strong by wrong."  I'd like to see her again in a role that suits her better.  Mr. Schreiber is much stronger than his material, as well as being a good bit more physically robust than the accident-prone character he portrays.

Director Scott Ellis does well enough getting the most from his actors, but he's held them back as well, particularly with the mechanics of scene transitions.  The best feature of this play is Neil Patel's open set, which allows additional seating on what is traditionally the upstage area.  Drawers and cabinets open on each end, and acrylic compartments provide a quick wash to clean up after some of the more "gruesome" accidents.  Donald Holder's lighting maximizes the set's ingenuity.

Gruesome Playground Injuries closed February 20, 2011.

The New York Idea

"The New York Idea" presented by Atlantic Theater Company at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, January 30, 2011

I'm not sure if it's the play itself, or just this latest adaptation by David Auburn, but Langdon Mitchell's premise of a divorced woman, newly engaged to a divorced man was better told by the prolific Phillip Barry in The Philadelphia Story, which premiered on Broadway some six years after The New York Idea's last revival.  One can't help but wonder if Mr. Barry had seen that production.

Set in 1906, Mr. Mitchell's work plods through the unseemliness of divorce at the time, punctuated by the dithering and frowns of the mother and aunt of the groom.  The result is an evening of theatrical fluff, verging on lint.

The cast is up for the game and make noble if unsuccessful efforts to breathe life into the stodgy plot.  As Cynthia Karslake (the divorced bride-to-be), Jaime Ray Newman is perky, but trapped.  Jeremy Shamos's John Karslake, her ex, comes across as mostly embarrassed to be caught up in the proceedings, and not from just his character's perspective.

The most fun to be had is by Francesca Faridany as Vida Phillmore, the groom's ex-wife.  Coming from her recent turn in the title role of Orlando at Classic Stage Company, she gives her best take on a nouveau vamp, bohemian and "modern."  It demonstrates a nice departure from her previous role.

Set designer Allen Moyer gives us a luscious and efficient, Austrian-shade draped set with a rotating collection of fireplaces to represent each location.  Michael Krass' gowns are beautiful.

If only the visual production were enough to make all this effort worthwhile.  The New York Idea runs through February 26.

Playwrights Horizons Discount Offer - Kin

Special KIN offer for Third Row, Mezzanine blog readers!
Order by March 21 with code KINGR and tickets are only:

• $40* (reg. $70) for the first 16 perfs (Feb. 25 – March 10)
• $55 (reg. $70) for all remaining performances March 11 – April 3

HOW TO ORDER:

• Order online at www.ticketcentral.com. Use code KINGR.
• Call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily)
• Present a printout of this blog post to the Ticket Central box office at 416 West 42nd Street (Noon-8pm daily).

*A limited number of $40 discounted tickets will be available for purchase. Subject to availability. Valid only in select rows.

A Small Fire

"A Small Fire" at Playwrights Horizons, December 21, 2010

Adam Bock returns to Playwrights Horizons' main stage with this story of a callous construction contractor as she deals with unexplained health issues.  Emily (Michelle Pawk) thrives in the rough and tumble world of commercial construction.  She seems most comfortable with her employee Billy (Victor Williams).  Her connection with her husband, John (Reed Birney) has reached a working balance of love and dysfunction, but the same can't be said for her soon-to-be-married daughter Jenny (Celia Keenan-Bolger).  A prophetic "We'll work it out." repeats over and over on the presumption that there's always time to resolve issues and difficulties.

Mr. Bock's story begins an interesting exploration of connection and senses, but much of the message feels forced.  The detachment he imbues in Emily comes across as pretty harsh.  As Emily's sensory factors diminish, John's intensify.  Jenny, already feeling estranged over Emily's disparaging comments about her fiance', pulls further away as Emily's ability to interact declines.  Mr. Bock has missed an opportunity to really explore the issue of role-reversal that many children face, trying to help aging parents manage their lives.  There's a brief mention of it, but it's quickly tossed aside.

Ms. Pawk, remarkably talented, never really inhabits Emily's tough shell.  Part of her struggle is in the writing, but the other part is a feeling she is miscast in this role.  Mr. Birney gets the best of this play, exemplified in a monologue during the wedding reception as he describes the action and images for his now-blind wife.  The joyous picture he paints is touching and heart-breaking.

Director Trip Cullman facilitates some compelling moments, but seems constrained by some elements,  the sub-plot of Billy's competitive homing pigeons and a gratuitous sexual interaction between Emily and John.  Many might describe Ms. Pawk as "brave" for the partial nudity, but I found it more sensational than plot-driven.

Loy Arcenas has created an excellent set, conveying the temporary sense of life with unfinished drywall elements, nicely complemented by David Weiner's lighting.

A Small Fire runs through January 23, 2011.  Check below for discount ticket information.

Playwrights Horizons Discount Offer - A Small Fire

Special A SMALL FIRE offer for Third Row, Mezzanine blog readers!

Order by December 31 with code SMGR and tickets are only:

·        $40* (reg. $70) for all performances December 16-30, 2010

·        $55 (reg. $70) for all performances January 1-23, 2011

HOW TO ORDER:

·        Order online at www.playwrightshorizons.org. Use code SMGR.

·        Call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily)

·        Present a printout of this blog post to the Ticket Central box office at 416 West 42^nd Street (Noon-8pm daily).

*A limited number of $40 discounted tickets will be available for purchase. Subject to availability. Valid only in select rows.

More Problems with Spiderman?

The news crawler on the Today Show announced that producers of Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark have canceled previews, apparently immediately.  No explanation has been given, however the coverage has been pretty extensive about cast injuries in the past couple of weeks.

UPDATE: 12/16/2010

Seems the cancellation was not extensive, though the NY Times now reports that opening night scheduled for January 11 has been pushed back to sometime in February.  Check the story here.

Colin Quinn: Long Story Short

"Colin Quinn: Long Story Short" at the Helen Hayes Theatre, November 15, 2010

Transferring after a relatively successful off-Broadway run earlier this year, Colin Quinn spends a little more than 75 minutes tromping through the history of the world.  Skipping around the globe, his attempt at a sardonic, cynic's view of how we got to where we are boils down to a simple concept.  There are two kinds of people in the world, smart guys and tough guys.  Smart guys best represented by the Greeks, tough guys by the Romans.  The influences of each are omnipresent today, but overall the tough guys generally win.  He summarizes, "We're the descendants of the pricks."

There are quite a few laughs, particularly his descriptions of the Holy Roman Empire as the children of alcoholics, and the Incas' under the influence of cocaine producing the best and worst ideas: architecture and science, vs. beheadings and cannibalism.

In the end, there's not much to learn about history, nor does Mr. Quinn share much profundity of his own thoughts about how the world evolved.  If anyone remembers Mr. Quinn's time on the Weekend Update desk on Saturday Night Live, there won't be any surprises here.  This is a Comedy Central late night stand-up special.  Jerry Seinfeld directs, but his impact seems minimal. 

Most impressive is David Rockwell's set and video projections, though portions of the set appear leftover from Xanadu.

Colin Quinn: Long Story Short runs through November 9.

Notes from Underground

"Notes from Underground" presented by Theatre for a New Audience at Jerome Robbins Theatre, November 13, 2010

Adapted from the Dostoevsky novella by actor Bill Camp and director Robert Woodruff, Russian existentialism returns to the New York stage.

In this production, the unnamed Man (Mr. Camp) has withdrawn from society resigning his civil service job after receiving a sizable inheritance.  Torn in a paranoid struggle to accept his mediocrity vs. the noble life for which a man should strive, he confesses his insecurities via webcam alternately whining at his weakness and railing against others.  It starts out like a 19th century Spalding Gray but spins quickly off that track.

Mr. Camp's brings us a Man very much like his Misanthrope in Ivo Van Hove's production at New York Theatre Workshop a few years go.  He screams and sobs, slovenly slurping down drinks like an undiagnosed diabetic.  The use of the web cam and other strategically placed cameras projects close-ups and visual angles across the stark white set.  This technique provide dramatic effects unachievable in standard theatre craft.  Still, despite the clever use, it feels like more of a distraction from the theatricality rather than an enhancement.  Mr. Woodruff directs the action like Italian cinema with extended pauses and ponderous moments, underscored with odd musical tracks. 

Perhaps the event might have made more sense as a film instead of a play.  The material, with its focus on the working of the Man's mind might have been better served in that format.

Production values are strong.  David Zinn's white set, layered in snow (it is set in St. Petersburg, by the way) creates a sterile cave into which the Man has sentenced himself.  Mark Barton's lighting plays on the set to morph the cave into a cage as  the Man devolves.

Notes from Underground runs through November 20.

After the Revolution

"After the Revolution" at Playwrights Horizons, October 29, 2010

Amy Herzog's tale of a family's struggle between ideal and reality centers around the legacy of the late Joe Joseph, a Communist Party member who stood up to the McCarthy hearings, refusing to name names during one of the darker political periods of our nation's history.  The story explores idealism vs. reality, truth vs. money.

(Spoiler Alert)

Ben (Peter Friedman) and Leo (Mark Blum), Joe's sons and both committed Marxists themselves, have learned that a book is about to be published identifying Joe as a Soviet Spy during WWII.  Turns out Ben had a pretty good idea it was true, though he never shared it with his idealistic daughter, Emma (Katharine Powell), who runs a defense fund in Joe's name, fighting for equal justice for the questionably accused.  The news turns Emma on her ear, questioning the foundation of her beliefs.  At the same time Emma's major donor, Morty (David Margulies), announces his plans to leave his entire estate to the fund, leaving Emma torn between the opportunity that such money would provide for her cause and the contradiction of doing so in the name of a traitor. 

It's a top-notch cast for the most part, supported by Mare Winningham in a sweet turn as Mel, Ben's well-meaning if not quite as intelligent wife and the inimitable Lois Smith as Ben and Leo's step-mother Vera.   The ironically named Vera is the least ready to reveal the truth about her late husband since it would negatively affect "the cause."  Mr. Friedman maintains the strongest performance, wearing his heart on his sleeve and flagellating himself once Emma learns the truth about Joe.  Ms. Powell, in the pivotal role, suffers from inconsistency.  Some moments are full of truth, but get undermined by moments of self-consciousness.

Director Carolyn Cantor keeps things moving, but the script could stand a trim of 15 minutes or so.  Clint Ramos' set morphs well to serve the multiple locations.

After the Revolution runs through November 28, 2010.  Playwrights Horizons offers the following discount:

Order by November 9 with code ARGR and tickets are only $45 (reg. $55) for all performances Oct. 29 – Nov. 28

HOW TO ORDER:
·        Order online at www.playwrightshorizons.org. Use code APGR.
·        Call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily)
·        Present a printout of this blog post to the Ticket Central box office at 416 West 42nd Street (Noon-8pm daily).