Head over Heels

B

The idea hardly sounds promising: take a 16th-century English pastoral, “The Arcadia” by Sir Philip Sidney, revise it and marry it to a score made up of songs by the all-female 80’s rock group, the Go-Go’s. Nevertheless, it was sufficiently well-received at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival three years ago that a group of producers including Gwyneth Paltrow and Jordan Roth signed on to shape it up and bring it first to San Francisco and now to Broadway's Hudson Theatre. Against all odds, it mostly works. James Magruder (Triumph of Love) adapted Jeff Whitty’s (Avenue Q) original concept and book and the producers assembled a fine cast and a very talented creative team including Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) as orchestrator, Spencer Liff (Spring Awakening) as choreographer and Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening) as director. The sumptuous set design by Julian Crouch (Hedwig), the wonderful costumes by Arianne Phillips (Hedwig), the hyperactive lighting by Kevin Adams (Hedwig) and the clever projections by Andrew Lazarow (Privacy) all add greatly to the production. The eight leads — Jeremy Kushner, Rachel York, Bonnie Milligan, Samantha Pollino (u/s for Alexandra Socha), Tom Alan Robbins, Taylor Iman Jones, Andrew Durand and Peppermint — are all talented performers. Durand (Spring Awakening) is delightful in the dual role of shepherd and Amazon. It’s good to have Rachel York (City of Angels) back on a New York stage. Peppermint (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) is notable for being the first transgender woman to create a role on Broadway. For me, Liff’s choreography is one of the strongest aspects of the show. l confess that I had never heard a Go-Go’s song before and would not feel deprived if I did not hear one again. Nevertheless, they fit reasonably well into the show. The GoGo’s must have reached cult status, because there was loud whooping and hollering whenever the first bars of a familiar song were heard. The plot is unabashedly silly, with an oracle, a curse, a royal family, a shepherd, hidden identities and a touch of “woke” gender fluidity. It’s not My Fair Lady or Carousel, but it works as naughty fun for a summer night. The curtain call is a real treat! Running time: two hours 20 minutes including intermission.

Mary Page Marlowe

C-

After the glowing reviews the Steppenwolf premiere of Tracy Letts’ play received two years ago, I arrived at Second Stage’s Terry Kiser Theater expecting an absorbing evening. Alas, something essential seems to have been lost en route from Chicago, because this production, directed by Lila Neugebauer (The Wolves), left me wondering what the fuss was about. The play is built around two gimmicks: the title character is played by six actors (and a doll) and the 11 scenes from her life are presented out of sequence. The six who play Mary Page, in ascending chronological order, are Mia Sinclair Jenness (Matllda), Emma Geer (How To Transcend a Happy Marriage), Tatiana Maslany (“Orphan Black”), Susan Pourfar (Mary Jane), Kellie Overbey (The Coast of Utopia) and Blair Brown (The Parisian Woman). Her parents are played by Nick Dillenburg (The Real Thing) and Grace Gummer (Arcadia) and her children by Kayli Carter and Ryan Foust (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Audrey Corsa and Tess Frazer (This Property Is Condemned) play her high school friends. David Aaron Baker (Oblivion Postponed) and Brian Kerwin (August: Osage County) are two of her husbands and Gary Wilmes (Chinglish) is her amorous boss. Marcia DeBonis (Small Mouth Sounds) is her shrink, Maria Elena Ramirez (Fish in the Dark) is her nurse and Elliot Villar (War Horse) is her dry cleaner. The play begins with a scene in which she is 40 and moves backward and forward almost randomly as far back as her infancy and up to her final months. Unfortunately, dividing her character’s scenes among six actors does not make her life story six times as interesting. Nor do the six actors create a convincing unity, at least not for me. Instead, they seem motivated to make the most of their relatively brief stage time. Subordinating their performance to a larger picture does not seem to be a priority. Perhaps this shortcoming will be overcoming during previews. The fact that three of the Mary Pages look roughly the same age made it difficult at times to place scenes in the correct sequence. A few of the scenes rise above the deliberate banality of the others. At times I thought I was watching a piece commissioned to provide as many roles as possible for the members of a repertory company. It was only 85 minutes long, but it seemed longer. When it was finally over, I was left scratching my head trying to figure out what made the Chicago production a hit, while this one, to me at least, is a miss. Perhaps it was Anna D. Shapiro’s direction or Carrie Coon’s acting that made the difference. In any case, the magic is missing. Kaye Voyce’s (Shining City) costumes are apt but Laura Jellinek’s (Marvin’s Room) sleek, curvy bilevel set seems somehow inapropos. The best I can say is that I am happy so many actors are employed thanks to this production. Running time: 85 minutes, no intermission.

Cyprus Avenue

B-

This seems to be the season for importing harrowing plays with superb actors from across the pond. First we got “Girls & Boys,” a solo piece for Carey Mulligan that takes a very dark turn. Now The Public Theater is presenting this import from Dublin and London starring an actor too rarely seen here, Stephen Rea. “Girls & Boys” is a stroll in the park compared to this play. Rarely have I left a theater feeling so emotionally drained. David Ireland has written a very, very black comedy about a Belfast Protestant, Eric (Rea; Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, "Thr Crying Game"), who becomes obsessed with the idea that his infant granddaughter is the incarnation of archenemy IRA president Gerry Adams. Eric is a staunch Unionist who derives his sense of self from hatred toward Irish Catholics or, as he calls them, Fenians. He actually says “We are nothing without prejudice.” After verbally abusing his wife Bernie (Andrea Irvine) and daughter Julie (Amy Molloy) and menacing the baby, Eric is turned out of his own home. We learn his story in flashbacks during his conversations with his black psychologist Bridget (Ronke Adékoluejo). Be prepared to hear both the N word and the C word. While sitting on a park bench, Eric is accosted by Slim (Chris Corrigan), a Protestant paramilitary who mistakes him for a Fenian. Their extended scenes together are the best in the play. Each gets a remarkable soliloquy that exemplifies absurdism of a high order. The roles for the women, alas, are underwritten. While the details are about ethnic strife in Northern Ireland, the playwright is clearly using them to illustrate the all-too-relevant universal problem of demonizing the other and turning too readily to violence. At a certain point, the play crosses a line from black comedy to theater of cruelty. The last 20 or so minutes of the play were excruciating to sit through. I felt manipulated, exhausted and angry. The entire cast is strong, particularly Rea and Corrigan. Vicky Featherstone, artistic director of the Royal Court, successfuly gives equal attention to the two halves of the audience seated on opposite sides. The scenic and costume design by Lizzie Clachan (Yerma) is appropriately bland. It would have been helpful if the program had included a few notes, e.g., explaining that the UVF is a Protestant paramilitary group or that Cyprus Avenue is a prosperous Belfast street mentioned in a Van Morrison song. Whether the opportunity to see Stephen Rea in an absurdist play that is highly relevant to our world is worth sitting through the play’s shocking finale is a close call. Running time: one hour 40 minutes; no intermission.

Carmen Jones

B

In 1943, Oscar Hammerstein II had the bright idea to redo Bizet’s Carmen as a Broadway musical set in World War II with an all-black cast. The production currently at CSC makes a good case for reviving this rarity. Carmen becomes Carmen Jones (Anika Noni Rose; Caroline or Change, A Raisin in the Sun), a sultry worker in a munitions factory. Don Jose is now Joe (Clifton Duncan; The Play That Goes Wrong, Kung-Fu), a soldier who would like to go to flight school. Cindy Lou f/k/a Michaela (Lindsay Roberts; Lost in the Stars) is Joe’s hometown girlfriend. Sergeant Brown (Tramell Tillman; Tis Pity She’s a Whore) sets his sights on Carmen, but she goes after Joe. Escamillo has become big time boxer Husky Miller (David Aron Damane; The Book of Mormon, Big River) who also takes a shine to Carmen. She eventually ditches Joe for Husky Miller and pays for it in spades, specifically the nine of spades, a card foretelling death.The leads all have wonderful voices and are fine actors too. The other members of the cast —Erica Dorfler, Andrea Jones-Sojola, Justin Keyes, Soara-Joye Ross, and Lawrence E. Street — are also outstanding vocal actors. Rarely have I encountered such a concentration of vocal talent on one stage. I am not that fond of Hammerstein’s libretto and lyrics, but Bizet’s music is so well sung that I didn’t mind it that much. Scott Pask’s (Dead Poets Society, The Visit) minimalist set involves a lot of boxes of ammunition that are moved around seemingly at random. Ann Hould-Ward’s (Pacific Overtures, Fire and Air) ’40’s costumes are very good. Adam Honoré’s lighting is evocative. Joseph Joubert’s orchestration for six instruments works well. Bill T. Jones’ (Fela!, Spring Awakening) choreography consisted more of moving the actors around than in staging dance numbers. CSC director John Doyle (Pacific Overtures, Fire and Air) is back in good form; perhaps he should stick to musicals. Running time: one hour 40 minutes; no intermission.

NOTE: The staging is in the round but the director has not been careful to give all sides of the theater a good view. Try to get seats in the 100 section; avoid seats in the 300 section. CSC has gone to digital programs. If you want to look up anything before the play, be sure to bring your cellphone. If you can read the microscopic print on a cellphone, you are fortunate. Otherwise, you can pick up a program in the lobby on your way out of the theater. I hope this idea does not catch on. 

Log Cabin

B-

Jordan Harrison’s (Marjorie Prime; The Amateurs) new comedy of manners at Playwrights Horizons is quite entertaining, but not all that coherent. The title, which led me to expect a play about LGBT Republicans, is misleading. While the two privileged couples, one lesbian and the other gay, at the center of the play may have become too comfortable with their recently won gains, I doubt that any of them is a card-carrying Log Cabin member. When we first meet them, the acerbic Jules, as in Julia, (Dolly Wells; The Whirligig) and the laconic Pam (Cindy Cheung; Iowa, Middletown) are entertaining their gay friends, the wise-cracking, overbearing Ezra (Jesse Tyler Ferguson; On the Town, Fully Committed), who is never without a quip, and his African-American husband Chris (Phillip James Brannon; Bootycandy, The City of Conversation). Jules and Pam decide to have a child. Chris wants one, but Ezra does not. A year after their son Hartley is born, the lesbians are once again entertaining in their spacious Brooklyn brownstone apartment. The two couples are joined by Ezra’s old friend Henry f/k/a Helen (Ian Harvie (“Transparent”), who 20 years before was Ezra's prom date, and Henry’s young hippy-dippy girlfriend Myna (Talene Monahon; Bobbie Clearly), who prefers dating trans men. After a few mojitos, the fractures among those present rise to the surface. Henry is upset that privileged LGBT people can be hurtful to marginalized trans people. As a black man, Chris argues that he often feels marginalized. Myna is appalled at everyone’s materialism. A conversation overheard on Hartley’s baby monitor fans the flames. We rejoin the group on Hartley’s birthday party over the next few years. The plot takes a turn that I found totally preposterous which I will not spoil for you. Nor will I say more about an amusing surrealist development that comes as a delightful surprise. While some of the many issues touched upon are specific to LGBT people, others — the difficulty of maintaining long-term relationships, adjusting to parenthood, being accepting of differences — are universal. The entire cast is very good. While I always enjoy seeing Jesse Tyler Ferguson, I would like to see him in a role that is not so completely within his comfort zone; I fear he is becoming stereotyped. The set by Allen Moyer (Grey Gardens, The Lyons) is a revolving wonder. Jessica Pabst’s (The Profane, Marvin’s Room) costumes are just right for each character. Pam MacKinnon (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Clybourne Park) directs with her usual assurance. I enjoyed the play, but I felt it skimmed the surface of too many topics without going very deeply into any of them. Running time: one hour 35 minutes; no intermission.

Skintight

B-

If you are gay or Jewish or preferably both, have I got a play for you! Joshua Harmon (Bad Jews, Significant Other, Admissions) is back at Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre with this family dramedy that easily qualifies as a guilty pleasure. Idina Menzel (Wicked, If/Then) plays Jodi Isaac, a 40-something L.A. attorney, smarting from her ex-husband’s engagement to a 24-year-old. She turns up at the West Village townhouse of her father Elliot (Jack Wetherall; The Elephant Man, Tamara), a world-famous fashion designer (whose biographical details are extremely similar to one CK) on the eve of his 70th birthday, seeking love and comfort, but finding little of either. What she does find is Elliot’s studly new 20-year-old boy-toy Trey (Will Brittain), who introduces himself as her father’s live-in partner. Jodi’s gay son Benjamin (Eli Gelb; How My Grandparents Fell in Love), on a break from his year abroad pursuing Queer Studies in Budapest (I mean, really??), joins them to celebrate Elliot’s birthday. Jodi takes an immediate dislike to Trey; Benjamin doesn’t. Elliot notices. If you are looking for a truly sympathetic character here, you won’t find one, with the possible exception of the maid Orsolya (Cynthia Mace; The Suitcase under the Bed) or the butler Jeff (Stephen Carrasco; Anastasia, Kinky Boots). The main characters are so self-absorbed that it is difficult to relate to any of them except as caricatures. The play deals with our obsession with beauty and youth, the nature of love vs. lust, bad parenting, and a touch of Hungarian anti-Semitism. As in any Harmon play, there is lots of snappy dialogue. The cast has been well-chosen and works well as an ensemble. Lauren Helpern’s  (Bad Jews, 4000 Miles) ultramodern monochromatic two-story set doesn’t look like anything I would expect to find on Horatio Street. Jess Goldstein’s (The Rivals, The Mineola Twins) costumes are perfection. Daniel Aukin’s (Bad Jews, Admissions) direction is seamless. Don’t go if you are offended by same-sex relationships, intergenerational sex, raunchy language or near-nudity. I found it very entertaining, but instantly forgettable. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes including intermission.

Girls and Boys

A-

A friend recently said that she would gladly pay for the chance to hear Carey Mulligan (Skylight, The Seagull) read from the phone book. On the basis of her riveting performance in this exhilarating but harrowing solo piece by Dennis Kelly (Matilda the Musical) now at the Minetta Lane Theatre, I can understand why she is regarded as one of the finest actors of her generation. She commands the stage dressed in an orange shirt and umber slacks (by Jack Galloway), barefoot, with her short hair tied back. Over the course of an hour and 45 minutes, she does not strike a false note as she tells a tale that slides down a slippery path from amusing anecdote to tragedy. Monologues on a bare stage alternate with scenes in her monochromatic pale blue kitchen (set by Es Devlin; Machinal) during which she mimes interactions with her unseen children Leanne and Danny. In the monologues, she portrays a vibrant, bold career-minded woman who, through sheer force of will, becomes a successful documentary producer. In the kitchen scenes, she exists only in relation to her children. When her husband’s business fails, she is preoccupied with her own concerns. We know that things will turn out badly but we are on edge waiting to find out what will happen and why. For the entire play the audience was rapt in silent attention. The level of the writing is high except for a brief turn to the didactic near the end. Director Lyndsey Turner’s (Machinal) direction is assured. I am curious how the play picked up 15 minutes between London and New York. I doubt that it was by slowing down the speech because I still found it frustratingly rapid, especially considering the thick British accent. Whatever the reason, the extra 15 minutes are not a plus; a judicious trim would have improved the play. Be forewarned that the outcome is devastating. With that caution, I urge you to take advantage of this brief opportunity to see an amazing actor. Running time: one hour 45 minutes; no intermission.

NOTE: You may be interested to know that Audible, the recorded book company, has set up a theatrical division to produce plays at the Minetta Lane Theatre, with one or two characters, that will be recorded for sale on Audible. Harry Clarke was their first production. This is the second.

Pass Over

B-

Someone cleverer than me summarized Antoinette Nwandu’s powerful play at LCT3's Claire Tow Theater as “Waiting for Godot meets Black Lives Matter.” That isn’t a bad description. Two young homeless black men, Moses (Jon Michael Hill; Superior Donuts) and Kitch (Namir Smallwood; Pipeline) are trapped on a decrepit urban block where they go through a daily routine of verbal games and daydreaming about escaping to the Promised Land, a routine occasionally punctuated by the reality of imminent violence. They are unable to break away from their awful corner. Two visitors arrive, Mister (Gabriel Ebert; 4000 Miles, Matilda the Musical), a seemingly benign but slightly creepy gentleman all dressed in white who has become lost on the way to his mother’s and offers the men the humorously vast array of food in his picnic basket. Their second visitor is Ossifer (also Ebert), a policeman, whose behavior is far from benign. For a surrealistic moment, Moses gains the powers of his namesake and vanquishes Ossifer. However, this story cannot realistically have a happy ending. Mister returns and shows his true colors with tragic results. As the final scene progresses, the house lights are gradually turned up as if to implicate the audience in the proceedings. It’s a highly theatrical work, ably directed by Danya Taymor (queens). The scenic design by Winston Chin (Next Fall, My Mañana Comes) is appropriately depressing and the costumes by Serafina Bush are apt. The sound design by Justin Ellington (Pipeline) makes ironic use of “Oh What a Beautiful Morning.” The lighting design by Marcus Doshi plays an important role in the production. I had to struggle to overcome my discomfort with the language; every fifth word is the N word. It’s a rough, uneven, occasionally muddled piece, but its energy is undeniable. Running time: 85 minutes, no intermission. NOTE: Spike Lee filmed a performance of the play at Steppenwolf, available to watch online by those who have Amazon Prime.

Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart

B

The Ensemble for the Romantic Century (ERC) produces “theatrical concerts,” works that combine theater, classical music, art, biography and history in a unique blend. The present piece, now at Signature Center, is based on the famed Russian composer and his strange 13-year relationship with Nadezhda von Meck, a wealthy widow who became his patron on the condition that they never meet. Two actors, along with three fine instrumentalists, a tenor and a ballet dancer, bring the story to life. I’m not sure whether to regard it is as an epistolary drama interpolated with music or as a chamber music concert (and occasional dance recital) punctuated by the two actors reading aloud excerpts from correspondence. Joey Slotnick (Junk, The Altruists) is plausible as the composer, but is unfortunately saddled with the task of sitting still and looking pensive through long musical passages. Shorey Walker (Seussical the Musical) is a fine Madame von Meck. For me the main draw was the music and the talented young musicians. Pianist Ji, violinist Stephanie Zyzak, cellist Ari Evan and tenor Adrian Kramer are all excellent. Dancer Daniel Mantei ably executes a few numbers he choreographed for the postage-stamp size stage, but I was too concerned about the possibility of injury dancing in such a tight space to fully enjoy his contribution. The book by ERC artistic director Eve Wolf (Van Gogh’s Ear, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein) relies mostly on the letters composer and patron exchanged, but also includes letters from Tchaikovsky to his brother Modeste which are quite open about the composer’s homosexuality. Straying from the letters, Wolf posits her theory for the reason Madame von Meck abruptly ended the relationship. The scenic design and costumes by Vanessa James (Van Gogh's Ear, The Dreyfus Affair) look lushly expensive and include a change of costume and furniture for the second act. The direction by Donald T. Sanders (Van Gogh’s Ear, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein), ERC Director of Artistic Productions, is fluid. The anchor of the concert is the beautiful Piano Trio in A minor.  The very idea of playing it in sections and reading letters between variations in its second movement would normally enrage me, but somehow it works here. We are also treated to four songs, a nocturne for piano and cello, a scherzo for violin and piano and an excerpt from The Nutcracker. If you are a Tchaikovsky fan, you will find much to enjoy; if not, this is not for you. Running time: two hours five minutes including intermission.

Desperate Measures

A-

New World Stages has found a valuable niche as a venue for musicals that once had long Broadway runs such as Avenue Q and Jersey Boys as well as off-Broadway shows that deserve further exposure but aren’t really suitable for Broadway. This delightful, slightly bawdy show, in the latter category, had to end its successful run at York Theatre Company, but happily is enjoying an encore run on 50th Street with almost all of its creative team intact. Based very loosely on Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure,” the action has been moved to the Arizona territory in the late 1800’s. Johnny Blood (Conor Ryan; Invisible Thread, The Fortress of Soitude) is a not-too-bright cowpoke who has been sentenced to hang for a barroom shooting defending his saloon bar girlfriend Bella (Lauren Molina; Rock of Ages). The upright sheriff Martin Green (Peter Saide) looks up Johnny’s sister Susanna (Sarah Parnicky, new to the cast), who is about to become Sister Mary Jo, and persuades her to seek a pardon for Johnny from Governor von Richterhenkenpflichtgetruber (Nick Wyman; Catch Me If You Can). We also meet Johnny’s cellmate, Father Morse (Gary Marachek), a drunken priest with a fondness for Nietzsche. The governor agrees to the young nun-to-be’s plea to free Johnny on the condition that she spend the night with him. The silly plot goes on about its merry way and, of course, ends happily. The entire cast are excellent, but I would especially single out Lauren Molina and Conor Ryan. The music by David Friedman (Nellie Bly) is consistently hummable and occasionally more than that. The book and lyrics by Peter Kellogg (Anna Karenina) are very clever. His rhyming couplets are not up there with David Ives’ but are still quite amusing. Director/choreographer Bill Castellino (Cagney) is quite comfortable with the material and works in several bits of hilarious physical humor. James Morgan’s (Cagney) rustic wooden set and Nicole Wee’s (Closer than Ever) period costumes add to the fun. If you are looking for old-fashioned light summer entertainment, this will fill the bill nicely. Running time: two hours 25 minutes including intermission.

Carousel

B-

Whether or not to see Carousel was a close call for me. Much as I admire the gorgeous score, I hate the book with its treatment of violence toward women. Curiosity to see whether an infusion of talent from New York City Ballet would matter and whether the book could be made more palatable for the #MeToo era tipped the balance so, when the show turned up on TDF, I decided to take the plunge. For me, the answer to the first question is a resounding yes. While choreographer Justin Peck has done a lot of fine work and NYCB soloist Brittany Pollack makes a fine Louise, the real revelation for me was NYCB principal Amar Ramasar, whose Jigger is a magnetic presence who commands attention. The sailors’ dance he leads to “Blow High, Blow Low” is one of the show’s highlights. He probably doesn’t have the voice for it, but I found myself wishing that he had been cast as Billy because he is far more charismatic than Joshua Henry (Violet, The Scotsboro Boys), whose Billy I found competent but unmemorable. As to the book, this production did nothing to make the element of domestic abuse less distasteful, at least for me. Nevertheless, there is much to admire. The glorious voices of Jessie Mueller (Waitress, Beautiful) as Julie Jordan and Renée Fleming (Living on Love) as her cousin Nettie Fowler do full justice to the wonderful songs and Ms. Fleming also exudes a welcome warmth. Lindsay Mendez (Significant Other, Dogfight) and Alexander Gemignani (Violet, Assassins) are wonderful as Carrie Pipperidge and Enoch Snow. Margaret Colin (Jackie: An American Life) is fierce as Mrs. Mullin. As the Starcatcher, John Douglas Thompson (Satchmo at the Waldorf, Jitney) has little chance to demonstrate his considerable talent; his silent appearances throughout the play seem a pointless distraction. The heavenly scene with the human gates is a bit kitschy. With an orchestra of 25, the music sounds lush, although I wish the volume had been reduced during the soliloquy. I was quite disappointed in Santo Loquasto’s (Hello, Dolly!) scenic design. A Carousel without a carousel is a letdown. One horse at the side of the stage doesn’t do it for me. Later we do get the top of a carousel that pops down from above like a huge inverted umbrella, but even that doesn’t revolve. Except for the elaborate background for the celestial scenes, the sets looked cheaper than what I would expect on Broadway. Ann Roth’s (Three Tall Women) costumes are rather bland. Director Jack O’Brien’s (The Coast of Utopia, Hairspray) concept of the play seems a bit muddled. To sum up, there are many strengths and many weaknesses in this Rodgers and Hammerstein revival. The bottom line is that, although I have many reservations about it, I am glad I didn’t miss it. Running time: two hours 40 minutes.

Dan Cody's Yacht

B+

The title of this stimulating new play by Anthony Giardina (The City of Conversation) now at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Stage I is a symbol of opportunity waiting to be seized lifted from The Great Gatsby. Kevin O’Neill (Rick Holmes; Junk, Lives of the Saints) is a financial manager in a wealthy Massachusetts suburb. Cara Russo (Kristen Bush; The City of Conversation, Kin) is his slacker son Conor’s (John Kroft) English teacher, who lives in the blue-collar town across the river. When we meet them, Kevin is trying to bribe Cara to raise the grade on his son’s essay. He also wants her to vote against a proposal to merge the two school districts. He berates her for not doing all she can to improve the prospects of her bright plus-size daughter Angela (Casey Whyland; Billy Elliot) and invites her to his monthly investment club where she meets his friends Geoff (Jordan Lage; Race, The Penitent) and Pamela Hossmer (Meredith Forlenza; 1984, The Winslow Boy) and Alice Tuan (Laura Kai Chen; Much Ado about Nothing). He persuades her that by investing her savings with him, she will be able to afford moving across the river so Angela can attend the better school and improve her chances of getting into a private college. Cara’s blue-collar friend Cathy (Roxanna Hope Radja; Frost/Nixon) whose daughter is friends with Angela cautions Cara not to make the move. Later, when Cara’s investment account takes a dip, a crisis arises. Kevin proposes a shady solution. Something that Kevin and Cara have in common is that they are both single parents. The play raises interesting questions about what a parent should be willing to do for a child’s sake. One puzzle is what Kevin’s motivation is in wanting to help Cara and her daughter. They have a strong chemistry which, since Kevin is gay, is not built on sex. Kevin’s character is a complex mix of the noble and ignoble. The actors are uniformly strong. Giardina has written a series of good scenes for two characters: Kevin and Cara, Kevin and Conor, Kevin and Angela, Cara and Angela, Cara and Cathy, Angela and Conor. He raises issues of income inequality, privilege, ambition, ethics and willingness to take risks. The play loses some of its energy toward the end as the playwright paints himself into a corner. For most of its length though, it is both engrossing and entertaining. John Lee Beatty’s (Doubt, Proof) scenic design makes effective use of a revolving set. The costumes by Catherine Zuber (My Fair Lady, Junk) befit their characters. Doug Hughes’ (Junk, The Father) direction is smoothly unobtrusive. Running time: two hours five minutes including intermission.

Secret Life of Humans

B

As part of its Brits Off Broadway series, 59E59 Theaters has imported this ambitious production by the collaborative New Diorama Theatre, a prizewinner at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival. “Devised by” the company and written by artistic director David Byrne, the play finds dual inspiration from the book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Israeli historian Yuval Harari and the life and work of British mathematician and science historian Jacob Bronowski, best known for his 1973 BBC-TV series “The Ascent of Man.” While Bronowski saw human history as a straight line upward led by science, Harari posits a more twisted path that does not always lead upward. One of Harari’s points is that the move from hunter-gatherer to farmer made human life worse rather than better. The play combines real personages, Jacob Bronowski (Richard Delaney) and his wife Rita (Olivia Hirst), with invented ones — Ava (Stella Taylor), a university lecturer and Harari devotee; Jamie (Andrew Strafford-Baker), Bronowski’s nonexistent grandson; and George (Andy McLeod), a mild-mannered mathematician. The plot revolves around the secrets of a room in Bronowski’s house that he allowed no one to enter. This part of the story is true. In a clever framing device, the lecture by Ava that opens the play morphs into a humorous introduction of Jamie and on to an awkward Tinder date. When Ava finds out that Jamie is Bronowski’s grandson and is temporarily living in his house, she gladly goes home with him. Ava is eager to learn the room’s secrets and persuades Jamie to let her investigate. We also learn that Jacob’s widow regularly visited the forbidden room for her own reasons. What Jamie and Ava uncover is a dark period in Bronowski’s life during World War II. We discover what motivated him to do what he did and what effect this period had on his later life. Jamie wants to protect the reputation of his grandfather, but Ava wants to advance her career. The interplay between exposition of theory about the nature of humankind, biography and invented story is not always seamless. Ava is much more engaging when she is lecturing than when she is interacting with Jamie. Despite some qualms about the play’s unevenness, I admire its high ambition and the high level of the production. The actors are all excellent. The scenic design by Jen McGinley is a wonder of moving bookcases below a blank wall on which evocative projections by Zakk Hein are shown and on which people walk! It’s a complex work that requires close attention, which most people will find worth the effort. Byrne co-directed with Kate Stanley. Running time: one hour 25 minutes, no intermission.

The Great Leap

C+

This interesting new play at Atlantic Theater Company’s Stage 2  is just good enough that one wishes it were better. Playwright Lauren Yee (Cambodian Rock Band) displays a knack for sketching vivid characters and situations with dramatic potential. The action is mainly set in San Francisco and Beijing in the early summer of 1989. Saul (Ned Eisenberg; Awake and Sing!) is the coach of a failing collegiate basketball team who has been invited to bring his team to China to play an exhibition game with a Chinese team. Saul had been there 18 years before to help the Chinese improve their basketball skills. During that stay he befriended his translator Wen Chang (BD Wong; M. Butterfly, Pacific Overtures) and taught him enough about basketball to become a coach. Wen never forgot Saul’s remark that no Chinese team could ever defeat an American team and is out to prove him wrong. Manford (Tony Aidan Vo; Sea Wife) is a motor-mouthed 17-year-old high school senior who, despite being vertically challenged, is a basketball whiz determined to join Saul’s team and make the trip to Beijing. Connie (Ali Ahn; The Heidi Chronicles) is his cousin who really doesn’t have much to do except fill in some of the exposition. With no disrespect to the actor, I think the play would be stronger without her character. The game just happens to take place in the midst of the Tianenman Square uprising. Some of the other coincidences came across as a little too pat for me. I suspect you will guess some of the secrets before they are revealed. The three male characters all get a chance to shine. Eisenberg makes the most of the over-the-hill Bronx exile who cannot get a sentence out without a handful of four-letter words. Vo captures Manford’s relentless drive cloaked in amiability.  Wong has the least showy but most nuanced role as a man who has tried all his life never to stand out. The scenic design by Takeshi Kata (The Profane, Man from Nebraska), which consists mainly of a section of a basketball court, is augmented by projections by David Bengali (Van Gogh's Ear). Tilly Grimes’s (Underground Railroad Game) costumes are apt. The direction by Taibi Magar (Is God Is) is unfussy. There are some fine moments, but they are too few. Running time: one hour 55 minutes including intermission.