Let's Love!

C-

 

For the fourth time, Atlantic Theater Company artistic director Neil Pepe has presented and directed a collection of one-act plays by Ethan Coen. I had seen two of the earlier programs and had been disappointed twice. I would have skipped the latest one, lamely and misleadingly titled Let’s Love!, if not for the casting of the charismatic Aubrey Plaza, whose fan I have been since the second season of “The White Lotus.” Alas, her inclusion is not enough to rescue this trio of uninspired, unrelated short plays. The first is basically a pair of monologues in a bar, in which a white woman of a certain age (Mary McCann) tries to pick up a middle-age black man (Dion Graham). Except for a couple of one-liners, the dialog is weak and McCann’s performance is bland. The middle and longest piece features Plaza as Susan, a foul-mouthed, hard-hearted woman for whom sex is primarily a bargaining chip. Plaza is fine, but the role doesn’t give her much range. Chris Bauer is a hoot as the man she hires to beat up her ex-boyfriend Dan, a thankless, underwritten role played by CJ Wilson. His current girlfriend Faye is overacted by Mary Wiseman using an intentionally annoying high-pitched voice. The final scene of this piece, between Plaza and the ever-reliable Noah Robbins, playing a nerd she meets on J-Date, was the highlight of the afternoon for me. It has very little connection to the other scenes and would be fine as a stand-alone. The final play features Robbins again, this time as a young man on a first date with Dylan Gelula, whose dinner out is ruined by his sudden case of food poisoning, which strangely turns out to be a bonding experience that promises to be the start of a relationship. As if in recognition of the fact that Coen’s plays provide insufficient entertainment, the production adds a prelude and interludes with Nellie McKay, singing, playing the piano, the guitar and a harmonica and dressed in a variety of costumes from top hat and tails to folk singer garb. Her voice is sweet and the songs are pleasant, although they have no bearing whatever on the plays. A musical finale with the entire cast also seems unrelated to anything else, but it is fun to see Plaza play a mean sax. The set by Riccardo Hernandez is functional and the costumes by Peggy Schneider are apt. Honesty compels me to report that the audience seemed to be thoroughly enjoying everything. Nevertheless, I feel that this production was not up to Atlantic’s usually high standards. Dress warmly; the theater was chilly. Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission.