The Unbelievers

c

My previous experience with Nick Payne’s plays is mixed: I hated If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet but liked Constellations and found Incognito interesting. I tried to approach his family drama now in previews for its American premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Stage 1 with an open mind. The main draw for me was Lauren Ambrose, whose career I have followed from young daughter on “Six Feet Under” to Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. It was somewhat of a shock to see her playing an unglamorous mother of three. She plays Miriam, whose 15-year-old son Oscar has disappeared. We meet her two ex-husbands, Rev. Karl Khoury (Hadi Tabbal) and David Wright (Tom Riley), her two young adult daughters, Nancy Khoury (Nina Ross) and Margaret Wright (Elizabeth Yeoman), Margaret’s boyfriend Benjamin (Jack DiFalco), Police Constables Jay Shah and Angela Fisher (Jaspal Binning and Brittany Bradford, both of whom also play another small role), Detective Constable Elizabeth Hawkins (Marjan Neshat) and Lorraine (also Neshat), David’s new love interest. The action takes place over a period of seven years in short scenes that are unfortunately scrambled out of sequence, making it difficult to know where in the story the scene you are watching fits. It took me the first 20 minutes or so just to figure out who was who. The play depicts the different effects Oscar’s disappearance has on different family members. The title apparently refers to those who refuse to consider the possibility that Oscar is still alive, which, after seven years, includes everyone but Miriam. There are a few moments of levity along the way and a pair of songs sung by Nancy for reasons unclear, but the emphasis is on Miriam’s fierce, relentless behavior that boils over at times to frightening proportions. We learn very little about any of the characters other than how they react to Oscar’s disappearance. The inclusion of a second ex-husband for Miriam seemed to me completely gratuitous. The ending leaves us completely up in the air. On the positive side, the acting is excellent. Ambrose throws herself into the role to a point that she is truly terrifying at key moments. Neshat is very strong as Lorraine. The puzzling scenic design by Paul Steinberg turns the right third of the stage into four pairs of pews for part of the audience. Although Karl is a vicar, there is nothing in the play to justify this strange choice. The costumes by Enver Chakartash were suitable. Director Knud Adams might have done more to differentiate the scenes to clarify when they occurred. There is room for a thoughtful play about the effects of the disappearance of a family member on those left behind and their need to let go and move on with their lives. Unfortunately, this is not the play. Running time:110 minutes without intermission.
                  

Lincoln in the Bardo

A-

To prepare for attending this opera, I felt obligated to read the book first, i.e. George Saunders’s 2017 Mann-Booker prize-winning novel about the fantastical events at Georgetown’s Oak Hill Cemetery the night after the funeral of President Lincoln’s 11-year-old son Willie. I must confess that, while I admired what Saunders was attempting, I did not enjoy reading the book. Furthermore, I thought it very brave of composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek to try to turn it into an opera. I am happy to report that they succeeded admirably. With the contributions of the rest of the creative team, including director Lileana Blain-Cruz, set designer Adam Rigg, costume designer Montana Levi Blanco, co-lighting designers Yi Zhao and Stacey Derosier, co-projection designers Hanna Wasileski and Hana S. Kim, puppeteer and creature suit designer James Ortiz, illusion and special effects designer Jeremy A. Chernick, choreographer Raja Feather Kelly, the Metropolitan Opera has a new remarkable work of stagecraft in its repertory. I am less enthusiastic about the music. Although the orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin plays the score beautifully and it serves the libretto perfectly, it does not linger on the ear – at least not on my ear. There are some excellent set pieces (I hesitate to call them arias) like Lincoln’s song about his son, “Poor Little Chap,” but nothing that I thought could have independent life outside the opera. The singers are all excellent: Everett Sobers as Willie; Peter Mattei as Lincoln, who is grieving not only over Willie’s death but the mounting casualties in the Civil War; Vollman (Ryan McKinny), the printer who was struck by a beam on the night he was to consummate his marriage [his frustration is signified by a giant phallus several feet long that rises and falls as needed with the help of a puppeteer and which, thankfully, disappears after one scene]; Bevins (Jonah Hoskins), whose rejection by his male lover led him to slit his wrists; Reverend (Christine Goerke), who is the only character who knows that everyone there in the Bardo, the transitional place on the way to their final resting place, is dead, not just sick; that what they call their sick-beds are actually coffins [I assume that the casting of the role with a woman was to obtain greater vocal variety]; Mr. and Mrs. Baron (Craig Colclough and Stephanie Blythe), the comic relief lowlife couple who were run over by a carriage while copulating in the road; Miss Elise Traynor (Anthony Roth Costanzo, in another cross-gender role), a teenage girl who died just as her life was flowering and is now trapped by tendrils in the cemetery fence for eternity; Mrs. Frances Hodge (Janai Brugger), a black woman who lives in a tree, who is consumed with the desire for vengeance against the man who took her children from her; Litzie (Viviana Goodwin), the traumatized young black girl that Mrs. Hodge protects; and Thomas Havens (Joshua Blue), a slave whose master worked him to death, who leads Lincoln to empathize with the lot of black people. The excellent performance of the chorus should not go unmentioned. The plot, in a nutshell, is that the Reverend, Bevins and Vollman want to persuade Willie to leave the Bardo before he is trapped by tendrils like Miss Traynor. Willie refuses to leave because he is certain that his father will come back to take him home. They must somehow influence Lincoln to say a definitive goodbye to his son. The stagecraft is filled with marvelous tricks: when someone “matterlightblooms,” i.e. leaves the Bardo, there is a flash of fireworks; at a simpler level, when a ghost inhabits Lincoln’s body, Lincoln’s white shirt lights up. Everything added up to a unique theatrical experience that I found quite rewarding. Running time: two hours 45 minutes including intermission.
 

Theater Bulletin: "School Girls" To Livestream Final Week of Performances

 

If you can't attend Manhattan Theatre Club's acclaimed production of Jocelyn Bioh's School Girls or The African Mean Girls Play (which I gave an A- rating) in person, you can stream the final week of performances in the comfort of your home, through the cooperation of Manhattan Theatre Club and the League of Live Stream Theater (lost.org). Audiences may purchase a $59 ticket (inclusive of $9 service fee) for one of the following performances at lolst.org . Tuesday, November 10 at 7:00 PM Wednesday, November 11 at 2:00 PM Wednesday, November 11 at 7:00 PM Thursday, November 12 at 7:00 PM Friday, November 13 at 7:00 PM Saturday, November 14 at 2:00 PM Saturday, November 14 at 7:00 PM Sunday, November 15 at 2:00 PM

The Heart

 B+

For its first musical at the Laura Pels Theatre in several years, Roundabout has chosen this import from La Jolla Playhouse on a topic that doesn’t sound like a promising one for a musical – a heart transplant. Composers and lyricists Anne and Ian Eisendrath and book and additional lyrics writer Kait Kerrigan have adapted Réparer les Vivants, the 2014 novel by Maylis de Kerangal into a fast-paced 90-minute musical about the events between the arrival to the hospital of a 19-year-old surfer Simon Lamar (Nick T. Daly) seriously injured in an auto accident and the successful transplant of his heart into Claire (Heidi Blickenstaff), a 50-year-old woman who, after three years, is about to give up on the transplant waiting list. We meet Simon’s divorced parents, Marianne (Joaquina Kalukango) and Sean (Jason Tam), who must make the awful decision whether to donate Simon’s organs once he is declared brain dead; Thomas (Lincoln Clauss), the hospital official who must gently coax them into a decision to donate; Cordelia (Bre Jackson), a nurse who is upbraided for singing to Simon; Marthe (Wren Rivera), the organ transplant list clerk who must make snap life or death decisions; Dr. Breva (Drew Gehling), the hotshot surgeon who will perform the transplant; and Juliette (Max Mackenna), Simon’s DJ girlfriend. Each gets a song to express their perspective. All the actors play secondary roles as well. The electronic score includes a few fine songs that could stand on their own elsewhere. Some of the actors, including Clauss, Jackson and Kalukango, have exceptional voices that I wished I could have heard more of. The majority of play takes place in the hospital and could pass for a musicalized episode of The Pitt. Mandy Moore’s choreography captures the seemingly disorganized mayhem of an ER and an OR. We also get flashbacks of Simon’s joy in surfing and Juliette’s dj work. I would have liked more about Claire and less about Juliette. Robert Brill’s scenic design is simple but works effectively with Lucy Mackinnon’s excellent projections. The costumes by Serafina Bush are apt. The direction, by Roundabout’s Artistic Director Christopher Ashley, is smooth and sure. While the show is uneven, at its best it is very good. Roundabout is to be commended for trying something a bit different. I was glad that I saw it. Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission.

 

 

A Few Good Men

A

The huge success of the 1992 film starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson may have led people including me to forget that it was first a 1989 Broadway play that ran over a year. The film, with its star-studded cast that also included Kevin Bacon, Keifer Sutherland, Cuba Gooding Jr., Christopher Guest, Alfred Molina and Noah Wyle, has become a cult classic with dialog that fans can recite from memory. For the few of you who may not know the plot, it’s about the legal maneuvers following the death of a marine at Guantanamo Bay. I was surprised when Lincoln Center Theater announced that they were reviving the play with a cast that, except for Bradley Whitford, was not filled with well-known names.  I did not envy them the task of recreating characters that are so vividly etched in people’s minds. The good news is that they have pulled it off. The present cast made these characters their own so I was not constantly comparing them to their predecessors in the film. As LTJG Daniel Kaffe, Tom Blyth, who was new to me, successfully makes the transition from an attorney who is just treading water and making plea deals until his term of duty is over to one who actually cares about his clients. As LCDR Joanne Galloway, Krysta Rodriguez is the internal affairs attorney who keeps goading him to do the right thing. As LtCol Nathan R. Jessep, Whitford has the unenviable job of following Jack Nicholson, but acquits himself admirably. Michael Oberholtzer is strong as Jack Ross, attorney for the prosecution. As bible-spouting 1stLt Jonathan Kendrick, Jessep’s aide, John Zdrojeski is appropriately creepy. As the two defendants, LtCpl Harold W. Dawson and PFC Louden Downey, Lavel Schley and Collin Kelly-Sordelet respectively are both fine. In smaller but important roles, Nick Blaemire as co-defense counsel Sam Weinberg, Michael Braugher as Capt Jeffrey Howard, Christophre Gurr as Dr. Stone, Thom Sesma as Maj Matthew Markinson, Billy Eugene Jones as Capt Isaac Whitaker and Stephanie Burry as Capt J.A. Randolph, the military judge, are all good. As PFC William T. Santiago, whose death precipitates the court martial, Daniel Velez does not have a lot to do, but he does it well. Tony awarded director Michael Arden keeps things moving smoothly and his inclusion of such rituals as presenting arms and folding a flag looked authentic. Dane Laffrey’s scenic design is a charcoal gray bare stage flanked by a huge American flag and a Marine Corps flag. On the right side of the stage there is a lit office in a tower whose significance does not become apparent until late in the play. There is a lot of moving furniture back and forth to create the specific setting for each scene. Before the second act begins, there is a large rectangular pit at stage center with steam rising from it, which I thought was a bit much. There’s not a lot to say about Alejo Vietti’s costumes except that they looked like authentic uniforms. I found the first few minutes confusing because so many characters are introduced in so short a time but soon became engrossed in the story. Aaron Sorkin’s script holds up very well. I had an unexpectedly enjoyable time. The only sour note is that I did not spot a single person under Medicare age in the audience. Lincoln Center Theater really has to try harder to draw a younger audience. Running time: two hours 40 minutes, including intermission.

 

The Imaginary Invalid

B-

As an avid Bill Irwin fan, I have been eagerly awaiting his adaptation of Moliere, now in previews at Roundabout’s Todd Haimes Theatre. I am sorry to report that I found it disappointing. Since I haven’t read or seen the original, I can’t comment on the faithfulness of Irwin’s adaptation, but I thought his version was a bit overwrought and tiresome. Furthermore, except for a bit of mime at the very end, it did not show Irwin doing what he does best. He plays Argan, the hypochondriac at the mercy of a team of doctors more concerned about billing than healing. He throws in modern terms like “primary care provider” so we don’t miss that he is also criticizing our own health care system. Argan’s daughter Angelique (a rather strident Ava Lalezaezadeh) wants to marry the handsome Cleante (Daniel Croix Henderson). Her stepmother Beline (the scene-stealing Crystal A. Dickinson) wants to send her to a convent and is champing at the bit to get hold of Argan’s money. Argan wants to marry her to the ridiculous Thomas (Hiram Delgado), nephew of Dr. Diaforus (Brooks Ashmanskas, not at his best) so he will have a doctor in the family. Argan’s brother Beralde (the always excellent Dylan Baker) wants to cure him of his hypochondria. Argan’s wily servant Toinette (the wonderful Rachel Bloom) pretends to agree with everyone, but slyly manages to manipulate them to her will. The actors break the fourth wall occasionally to solicit the audience’s agreement with their remarks.  I found it only sporadically funny.  Brandon J. Dirden’s direction kept things moving smoothly. The best part of the experience for me was seeing the marvelous costumes by Karen Perry which were truly a feast for the eye. Beowulf Boritt’s set is also a treat, especially the way it is assembled before our eyes by masked men cloaked in black. Most of the audience seemed to be enjoying themselves, but I was expecting more. Running time: 90 minutes; no intermission.                   

Good Time Charlie

A-

As soon as you enter Martinson Hall at the Public Theater and see the exotic garden complete with a torii gate, you are ready for something out of the ordinary and that’s what actor/playwright, Ryan J. Haddad, delivers. Haddad is a gay man of Lebanese extraction from Shaker Heights, Ohio who has not let his cerebral palsy prevent him from having a theatrical career in New York. Over the last several years he has performed a series of autobiographical solo works that have been well received. This time out, he has attempted something more complex, a tribute to the gay uncle (Jonathan Raviv) who introduced him to theater, interwoven with his own life story. Uncle Charlie’s parents (Nael Nacer and Artemis Pebdani), unlike Ryan’s, were unsupportive, forcing him into a career in dentistry when he really wanted to be an actor. Charlie was fortunate enough to meet Lou (Tim Bagley), a recently divorced professor of film studies, at a Cleveland gay bar when Charlie was still a dental student. The 24-year age difference proved no obstacle to what became a lifelong relationship. Through Lou, Charlie met Sheldon (Michael Cristofer), owner/programmer of the local art cinema, who became a very close friend. Charlie, Lou, Sheldon and Janice (Beth Malone), Ryan’s lesbian aunt, became his chosen family. Throughout the play, Haddad employs several metatheatrical devices including breaking the fourth wall to address the audience and having Charlie argue with Ryan over the script. To complicate matters, the same actors portray both Charlie’s parents and Ryan’s parents, which occasionally became confusing. While the first act is mostly light-hearted and raunchy, the mood darkens in the second act when one of the characters suffers a stroke and Charlie is burdened with the care of his parents and closest friend. It struck close to home when Sheldon expressed both his regret at never having had a long-term relationship and his belief that the arts offer life-sustaining power. The total effect of the play was quite original and bracing. The actors are all very good. Long-time theater lovers will be happy to see Beth Malone from Fun Home and Michael Cristofer, author of the Pulitzer winner The Shadow Box. The set by Afsoon Pajoufar and costumes by Enver Chakartash are wonderful. Director Danny Sharron successfully negotiates the many twists and turns. You certainly don’t have to be gay to enjoy it, but you are likely to enjoy it more if you are. Running time: two hours 15 minutes including intermission.