Sunday, April 14, 2019

Ink

A-

Manhattan Theatre Club is presenting the American premiere of James Graham’s (Privacy, This House) London hit with an all-new cast except for Olivier winner Bertie Carvel (Matilda: The Musical) as Rupert Murdoch. When I looked it up, I was surprised to learn that his award was for Best Supporting Actor. I had wrongly assumed that the role of Murdoch would be the lead. After seeing the play, I now understand that the play is less about Murdoch than I expected and more about the team that led The Sun in the year after Murdoch’s purchase in 1969. The role of Larry Lamb (Jonny Lee Miller; After Miss Juile, Frankenstein), the editor Murdoch hired, is at least as prominent as Murdoch’s. The first act is a worthy successor to The Front Page as a love letter to the lost heyday of newspaper publishing. The amazing set by Bunny Christie (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) features dozens of metal desks piled high and a curved back wall made of rolls of newsprint on which images are projected. The center of the stage is a smallish platform that rises from below with different settings. A tour for a new apprentice shows us the arduous process of setting and printing the paper. I wondered why there was a piano at the side of stage. I got my answer midway through the first act. As Lamb assembles his staff, the cast suddenly bursts into song and dance. The segment works so well that I found myself wishing that the creators had gone all the way and written a musical. The second act traces the newspaper’s first year and the increasingly dubious strategies Lamb pursues to fulfill his faustian promise to Murdoch to overtake The Mirror in sales. He jeopardizes the life of someone close to the paper and finally introduces a titillating Page 3. The excellent ensemble includes David Wilson Barnes, Bill Buell (Bad Habits), Andrew Durand (Head Over Heels), Eden Marryshow, Colin McPhillamy (The Ferryman), Erin Neufer (Nathan the Wise), Kevin Pariseau (The Explorers Club), Rana Roy, Michael Siberry (Junk, Six Degrees of Separation), Robert Stanton (Fuddy Mears, All in the Timing) and Tara Summers (The Hard Problem). Jonny Lee Miller (who did not appear in London) is a serious rival for Carvel at Tony time. Director Rupert Goold (King Charles III) masterfully keeps everything moving along smoothly. The play is a highly theatrical and quite entertaining work. What it is not is a deep exploration of Murdoch and his agenda. Running time: two hours 45 minutes including intermission.

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