The Year in Review

Gotham Playgoer Year in Review — 2018

A (excellent)

My Fair Lady

The Ferryman

A- (Very Good)

Admissions

The Boys in the Band

Desperate Measures

Edward Albee’s At Home at the Zoo

Fiddler on the Roof (in Yiddish)

Girls and Boys

Hangmen

The Hello Girls

Lifespan of a Fact

The New One

The Niceties

Oklahoma!

Our Lady of 121st Street

The Prom

Slave Play

Three Tall Women

Travesties

B+ (good)

The Band’s Visit

Conflict

Dan Cody’s Yacht

The Head and the Load

Lobby Hero

Operation Crucible

The Originalist

To Kill a Mockingbird

Transfers

Yerma

B

Amy and the Orphans

Apologia

A Brief History of Women

Carmen Jones

Head over Heels

The Metromaniacs

Feeding the Dragon

The Low Road

Miles for Mary

Paradise Blue

Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart

Secret Life of Humans

The True

B-

American Son

Blue Ridge

Carousel

Cyprus Avenue

Days of Rage

Fairview

Final Follies

The Hard Problem

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Hindle Wakes

Jerry Springer: The Opera

Kings

Lewiston/Clarkston

Log Cabin

Mlima’s Tale

Mother of the Maid

Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story

An Ordinary Muslim

Pass Over

Skintight

Straight White Men

Uncle Vanya (Hunter Theater Project)

We Live by the Sea

Wild Goose Dreams

C+ (fair)

The Beast in the Jungle

Children of a Lesser God

Daniel’s Husband

Girl from the North Country

The Great Leap

The House That Will Not Stand

A Letter to Harvey Milk

John Lithgow: Stories by Heart

queens

Summer and Smoke

The Thanksgiving Play

This Flat Earth

Waitress

What the Constitution Means to Me

C

The Amateurs

Bernhardt/Hamlet

Bobbie Clearly

Cardinal

The Damned

Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine

I Was Most Alive with You

Miss You Like Hell

Network

Noura

Relevance

The Waverly Gallery

Thom Pain (based on nothing)

Usual Girls

C-

Betty’s Summer Vacation

Collective Rage: Play in 5 Betties

Days To Come

Downstairs

Escape to Margaritaville

Mary Page Marlowe

A Walk with Mr. Heifetz

D+ (poor)

Gettin’ the Band Back Together

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

D

Fire and Air

Good Grief

LaBute New Theater Festival

Mankind

The Nap

Plot Points in Our Sexual Development

I (incomplete, i.e. so bad that I did not return after intermission)

Good for Otto

Light Shining in Buckinghamshire

Here is a comparison with last year. Interestingly, the percentage of B’s and C’s is identical, but the percentage of A’s has increased and the percentage of D’s has decreased. So I would say 2018 was a slightly better year. Here’s hoping 2019 will be even better!

2018 2017

A, A- 17%                                  14%                               

B+, B, B-         42%                                  42%

C+, C, C-         32%                                  32%

D+, D, D-           7%                                  11%

F                       0%                                    1%

I                        2%                                    0%

Blue Ridge

B-

Atlantic Theater Company is presenting the world premiere of Abby Rosebrock’s (Dido of Idaho) drama set in a church-sponsored halfway house in the mountains of western North Carolina. I don’t know much about halfway houses, but I found it surprising that the residents were there for such varied problems as opioid addiction, alcoholism, mental illness and anger management. The main focus is on the self-destructive Alison (Marin Ireland; Summer and Smoke, The Big Knife), a devoted high school English teacher at the local high school who, after a long affair with her married principal, attacked his car with an axe and was sentenced to a six-month stay there. She immediately befriends Cherie (Kristolyn Lloyd; Paradise Blue, Dear Evan Hansen), another high school teacher, who is a recovering alcoholic voluntarily there. Cherie is black, but her race does not seem to be a significant issue for anyone. She likes it at the group home and thinks she might switch to a career in social work or public health. Wade (Kyle Beltran; The Fortress of Solitude, Gloria) became addicted to prescribed drugs after a work accident. and blames some of his problems on his mixed race. Cole (Peter Mark Kendall; Six Degrees of Separation, The Harvest) has just been discharged from a mental institution; his reasons for being institutionalized never become sufficiently clear. The founders and staff of the home are Hern (Chris Stack; Ugly Lies the Bone), a white pastor, and Grace (Nicole Lewis; Hair, Sense and Sensibility), his black colleague. The residents not only must hold day jobs in the community but must also undertake service projects as part of their treatment. We see the six interact, mainly at a series of bible study meetings. The lyrics of Carrie Underwood songs are cited. Wade gets to sing and play the guitar. The first act builds slowly to a surprising climax that I did not see coming. The second act features a gripping emotional meltdown, but then spins its wheels and ends on an unsatisfying note. Adam Rigg’s (Fabulation, The House That Will Not Stand) set presents the home’s nondescript living room with a hint of evergreen trees peeking through the vertical blinds. The set is surrounded by a frame that lights up brightly between scenes. Sarah Laux’s (The Band’s Visit, The Humans) costumes suit the characters well. Director Taibi Magar (The Great Leap) shows an affinity for the material. For me the opportunity to see Marin Ireland emote was reason enough to attend. The rest of the fine cast more than holds its own onstage with her. At its best moments, the play is quite gripping. It’s just good enough that one wishes it were even better. Running time: two hours including intermission.

Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine

C

As the first installment of Lynn Nottage’s residency, Signature Theatre has revived this work from 2004. Theatergoers who know her only from serious plays such as Pulitzer prizewinners Ruined or Sweat may be surprised to see something in a lighter mode. Undine Barnes Calles (Cherise Boothe; Milk Like Sugar) is the invented persona of Sharona Watkins, who grew up in the Brooklyn projects, won a scholarship to Dartmouth, broke off all contact with her family who, she said, had died tragically in a fire, and for 14 years has run a successful PR firm catering to nouveau riche African-Americans. Two years ago she married Hervé (Ian Lassiter; Junk), a sexy Argentinian. When we meet her, she is yelling at her assistant Stephie (Mayaa Boateng; Fairview) for being unable to find a celebrity to attend the Fallopian Blockage benefit she is planning. Imperious in her gold lamé outfit at her teak desk, Undine is clearly ripe for a comeuppance. In short order, her husband absconds with all her money, she becomes the subject of an FBI investigation, she finds out she is pregnant, she is forced to move back home to the family she rejected and she ends up in jail after being mistaken for a drug addict. We next see her in a drug rehab group session where a college professor (Dashiell Eaves; A Time To Kill) is waxing rhapsodic over the pleasures of cocaine. Guy (Lassiter again) is a security guard in the group who takes a shine to her. We see their first date at a BBQ restaurant. A scene of her frustrating visit to a social services office is a bit heavy-handed. Undine’s attempts to become a better human being are not completely convincing and the second act flounders a bit. Truth is Undine, with her droll asides, is much more entertaining company than Sharona. Ms. Boothe is excellent and is supported by a strong ensemble of seven (Heather Alicia Simms; Fairview; Nikiya Mathis, Skeleton Crew; J. Bernard Calloway, Memphis; Marcus Callender, plus the three actors already mentioned) who play multiple roles. Some of the costumes by Montana Levi Blanco (In the Blood, Fairview) and wigs by Cookie Jordan (Once on This Island) are delightfully outlandish. Adam Rigg’s (The House That Will Not Stand) set converts effortlessly to a variety of locales. Director Lileana Blain-Cruz (Red Speedo, War) keeps things moving. It is sporadically entertaining but the satire misses as often as it hits. Running time: one hour 55 minutes including intermission. 

Noura

C

The program at Playwrights Horizons indicates that Heather Raffo’s (9 Parts of Desire) play about five Iraqi immigrants in New York was inspired by Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. My advice is to forget that fact because the connections between the two plays are tenuous at best. The titular character, performed by the playwright , is a woman approaching 40, an architect back in Mosul, who was uprooted with her husband and son eight years ago by ISIS. As a fair-skinned Christian, she had relatively little difficulty emigrating to the U.S. Her husband Tareq, now known as Tim (Nabil Elouahabi), was a surgeon back in Iraq but had to work in a fast-food restaurant when they arrived in New York. Their highly assimilated son Yazen, now Alex (Liam Campora; Marvin's Room), is mostly interested in video games. Rafa’a (Matthew David; Glamping), a Muslim obstetrician who emigrated several years before them, has been a friend of Noura’s since childhood and is a frequent visitor. As she prepares to celebrate their first Christmas as U.S. citizens, Noura is excited by the prospect of finally meeting Maryam (Dahlia Azama; Veil'd), a 26-year old orphan rescued from a convent bombed by ISIS, whom Noura has been sponsoring. Christmas dinner does not go well. Maryam is definitely not the deferential young woman Noura was expecting. She has already made an important life choice that her hosts find unacceptable and resents the mold they are trying to force her into. The play’s most grounded character, the likable Rafa’a, reveals a secret that he has kept hidden for many years. Tareq confesses to feelings about his wife that he has never admitted to her. Finally, Noura reveals her own shattering secret, one she has hidden for over a quarter century. There are many important issues raised by the play — the difficulties faced by immigrants, conflicting feelings about honoring a past that is forever gone while adjusting to a new life, dealing with nightmare memories of war. finding a balance between community and individualism, and facing the corrosive effects of tribalism, both in Iraq and in the U.S. Some of these are better worked into the fabric of the play than others. I am sorry that the author felt the need to add some melodrama to the mix. I was also troubled by the 180-degree personality change by one of the characters. The actors are good, especially Mr. David. Andrew Lieberman’s (The Glass Menagerie) set, while quite attractive, made little sense to me. Would a woman who can’t muster the commitment to buy a sofa install a massive brick room divider in her apartment? Tilly Grimes’s (The Thanksgiving Play) costumes suit each character well. Joanna Settle’s (9 Parts of Desire) direction is unobtrusive except that I was puzzled by scenes when Noura steps outside for an illicit smoke and we very faintly hear her thoughts. It is a play that, for me at least, did not live up to its ambitions. Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission.

The Head and the Load

B+

After a sold-out run at the Tate Modern earlier this year, William Kentridge’s remarkable multimedia piece about the overlooked role of Africans in World War I is having its North American premiere at the Park Avenue Armory. Although over a million Africans were conscripted by both sides to serve as porters during the war and probably at least 100,000 of them died from hunger, exhaustion and illness, almost no mention of them appears in the history books. Kentridge redresses this omission with a multimedia tribute that combines music, dance and art to powerful effect. The music by Phillip Miller and Thuthuka Sibisi which incorporates African idiom into the score, is played by The Knights and gloriously sung by a talented ensemble. Gregory Maqoma’s choreography is strong, especially a heartbreaking duet for two men. The varied projections by Catherine Meyburgh are an essential part of the production. The art by Kentridge includes an array of metal sculptures and stylized objects carried by the porters that look remarkable when seen in shadow play. Some of his drawings are periodically projected on newsprint. The costumes by Greta Goiris, some fanciful, others realistic, are evocative. Set designer Sabine Theunissen, with a stage that runs the entire length of the Armory’s gigantic drill hall to fill, breaks up the space with a few whimsical towers. The piece uses repeated processionals with cumulative effect. The large cast is excellent without exception. The stage is so wide that it is almost impossible to take in everything that is going on at any given moment. I doubt that anyone would understand the events depicted without reading about them in the program. In London it ran 70 minutes; now it’s 90 minutes. 70 would be better. Nevertheless, it’s a truly unique experience that should not be missed by the adventurous. It runs through December 15.

Network

C

After seeing ivo van Hove’s version of The Damned, I feared what he would do once he got his hands on this 1976 classic satire written by Paddy Chayevsky and directed by Sidney Lumet. The near-unanimous praise from the London critics somewhat allayed my misgivings, but what I saw tonight in this adaptation by Lee Hall (The Pitmen Painters) mostly confirmed them. Let me say immediately that Bryan Cranston (All the Way, "Breaking Bad") is superb in the role of Howard Beale, the TV anchorman at the center of the action. Seeing him perform is the only thing that made the evening at all worthwhile for me. Everything else about the production is so overblown, so frenetic, so gimmicky and so disjointed that it wore me down long before it ended. Upon arrival, we see that the center of the stage is occupied, for no apparent reason, by actors performing yoga. Jan Versweyveld (The Crucible, A View from the Bridge) has configured the stage as a TV studio with the control room on one side and, for reasons best known to van Hove (A View from the Bridge) , a restaurant with six tables for two on the other. Five of them are filled by theatergoers who eat dinner throughout the play. At one point the empty table is occupied by two actors, having public sex among the diners. The restaurant bar which is at the far edge of the restaurant is not visible to most of the audience, but it doesn’t matter because the only scene that takes place there is captured on the large video screens where you are likely to watch most of the play. (Don’t worry about expensive seats; it’s all on the giant screen.) Beale’s boss and longtime best friend Max Schumacher (Tony Goldwyn; Promises, Promises; The Dying Gaul) fires him because his ratings are down. Diana Christensen (Tatiana Maslany, Mary Page Marlowe, "Orphan Black"), a ruthless young producer without a moral compass, has an affair with Max. Despite the sex scene at the restaurant, there is little apparent chemistry between Goldwyn and Maslany. Frank Hackett (Joshua Boone; Actually), an ambitious executive brought in by the network’s new corporate owner, wants to subordinate the news division to the programming division. Edward Ruddy (Ron Canada (Zooman and the Sign) is the longtime network chief who is trying without much success to preserve the network’s independence. Frank Wood (Side Man, The Babylon Line), a fine actor, has little opportunity to make an impression in the bland role of Nelson Chaney. Nick Wyman (Desperate Measures) is appropriately ponderous as corporate head Arthur Jensen. Alyssa Bresnahan (Napoli, Brooklyn), as Max’s wife, does her best with soap-opera-worthy lines. The production relentlessly assaults the audience with flashing screens, loud music and much scurrying about. The brief forays into audience participation were the only things that seemed half-hearted. Somewhere midst all the cacophony there’s a cautionary tale about the media that still resonates even though the media themselves may have changed. At play’s end, the large screen shows a collage of all the presidents since Ford taking the oath of office. This gave the audience an excuse to applaud George H.M. Bush and Obama and boo Trump. Just another gimmick. Go to see Cranston if you are a fan. Otherwise, just rent the movie. Running time: two hours; no intermission.

To Kill a Mockingbird

B+

I must confess that I thought it was a terrible idea to turn Harper Lee’s classic novel into a Broadway play starring Jeff Daniels (Blackbird, God of Carnage, “The Newsroom”). The film version is so indelibly lodged in people’s consciousness that it did not seem possible for a stage version to compete, even with a script by Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, “The West Wing”). While I have admired much of Daniels’s work, he’s not Gregory Peck. My doubts grew when I heard that the roles of the three children would be played by adults, a practice I generally detest. I am happy to report that my qualms were mostly misplaced. While Sorkin’s script hews closely to the film in most respects (It’s been so long since I read it that I can’t comment on how closely it adheres to the novel), the changes he makes are mostly improvements. The roles of Calpurnia, Dill and the judge have been expanded, to good effect. A new character, the town drunk Link Deas (a touching Neal Huff; The Iceman Cometh), has been introduced, with his own tragic tale of the dire consequences of an interracial marriage. A few scenes from early in the film, such as Scout’s first day at school, have been left out without serious harm. Even allowing for the fact that the actors playing them are adults, the children seem a few years older than in the novel. This makes dramatic sense because the three, mainly Scout, narrate the story. The level of the acting is superb; even small roles have been cast with fine actors. Daniels is solid, but no match for my memory of Peck. Celia Keenan-Bolger (The Glass Menagerie, A Parallelogram) is superb as Scout. Will Pullen (Sweat, Punk Rock) is fine as her brother Jem. LaTanya Richardson Jackson (A Raisin in the Sun) makes Calpurnia a good sparring partner for Atticus. Gideon Glick (Significant Other) is the wrong physical type for Dill (allegedly based on Truman Capote) but brings out his sensitivity well. Stark Sands (Kinky Boots) plays against type as the racist prosecutor Horace Gilmer. Frederick Weller (Mothers and Sons, Glengarry Glen Ross) is an appropriately sinister Bob Ewell. Erin Wilhelmi (The Crucible) is excellent as his daughter Mayella. Phyllis Somerville (Over Here, “The Big C”) is fine as the acerbic Mrs. Henry Dubose. Dakin Matthews (The Iceman Cometh) as the judge and Danny McCarthy (The Iceman Cometh) as the sheriff are both effective. Gbenga Akinnagbe (A View from 151st Street) is a quietly forceful Tom Robinson. In an interesting casting move, Danny Wolohan (The Low Road, The Flick) successfully plays both Mr. Cunningham and Boo Radley. Liv Rooth (Is He Dead?, All in the Timing) doubles as Dill’s mother and Miss Stephanie. The fluid staging is greatly enhanced by Miriam Buether’s (Three Tall Women) wonderful set that rapidly transforms between locations. The period costumes by Ann Roth (The Nance) are also fine. A few of the changes play to current sensibilities: the jury’s verdict is much quicker and a police shooting is much more violent. The jury’s seats remain empty, as if to lead us to project ourselves into them. Although Atticus is still very much at the center, the play works more as an ensemble piece than a character study. Bartlett Sher (My Fair Lady, The King and I) directs the large cast with consummate skill. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised how well this stage version turned out. Running time: two hours 35 minutes including intermission.