Grand Horizons

B+

Of the three Bess Wohl plays to make it to New York this season (the other two were Continuity and Make Believe), this new play, which marks Wohl’s Broadway debut. is far and away the funniest and slickest. While it lacks the innovation of Make Believe or Wohl’s earlier play Small Mouth Sounds, and has a few minor problems, it is irresistibly entertaining. Furthermore, it provides a marvelous showcase for two fine actors, Jane Alexander (The Sisters Rosensweig, First Monday in October) and James Cromwell (“Babe,” The Invention of Love), as well as juicy roles for the other five actors. Shortly after Nancy and Bill move into the titular senior community after their 50th anniversary, Nancy suddenly announces that she wants a divorce. Bill does not object. Their two adult sons, the practical, unemotional Ben (Ben McKenzie; “The Report”) and the overemotional Brian (Michael Urie; Torch Song, Buyer & Cellar), arrive, along with Ben’s very pregnant wife Jess (Ashley Park; Mean Girls), to attempt to talk them out of divorce. There are two additional characters, Tommy (Maulik Pancholy; It’s Only a Play, “30 Rock”) and Carla (Priscilla Lopez; In the Heights, Pippin), each of whom has a marvelous scene that probably should have been cut despite its entertainment value. The dialogue is very funny and often witty but occasionally stoops to sitcom level. Amidst the hilarity, there are moments that raise thought-provoking issues of identity, parenthood, female empowerment, and the difficulty of clear, honest communication. Most of the time, the mix works well. The production levels are very high. Instead of a curtain, there is a gigantic projection by Bryce Cutler (Soft Power) of an aerial view of row after row of identical attached houses. The set by Clint Ramos (Torch Song, Once on This Island) shows the first floor of one of the units, blandly neutral, accented by safety grab bars in peculiar places. The costumes by Linda Cho (The Lifespan of a Fact) befit the characters well. Leigh Silverman’s (The Lifespan of a Fact, Chinglish) direction is assured. While it may not be the best play I have seen recently, it certainly is the funniest. The audience loved it. Running time: two hours ten minutes including intermission.

NOTE: Did Second Stage learn nothing from the mistakes made at the Tony Kiser Theater when they renovated the Helen Hayes Theater? Once again, the cramped seats are unstaggered with very narrow armrests and little legroom.

Continuity

C-

Don’t be fooled by the teaser in the ads for this new play by Bess Wohl (Small Mouth Sounds) at MTC’s Stage II. While it contains no outright falsehoods, it subtly misleads by making the plot sound far more interesting than it turns out to be. A movie about climate change is being shot, for tax reasons, in the hot New Mexico desert, although it is set in a frigid clime. Maria (Rosal Colon; Between Riverside and Crazy), the film's director, a Sundance favorite, has been entrusted with her first feature film. Although she is nominally in charge, the studio has sent Caxton (Darren Goldstein; The Little Foxes), a seasoned screenwriter, to the set to turn her small, serious film into something more commercial. Caxton also happens to be Maria’s former lover; furthermore, after a fearsome diagnosis, he must face his own mortality. The three actors we meet in the scene that we see over and over and over are ecoterrorist George (Alex Hurt; Cardinal, Placebo), played by dumb hunk Jake; Nicole (Megan Ketch; Cry It Out), a former love played by prima donna and recovering coke addict Eve, who is out to stop him from detonating a bomb that will set off a huge tsunami; and Lily (Jasmine Batchelor; The River), the scientist George is determined to kill, played by African-English actress Anna. For comic relief, we have a production assistant Max (Garcia; upcoming “Tales of the City”) who valiantly copes with various disasters and conflicting requests. We also occasionally hear from the grip (Curran Connor; Dido of Idaho). Larry (Max Baker; The Village Bike), the film’s science adviser, brings everyone down by stating his opinion that the film is too little too late and part of the problem rather than the solution. The play offers no new information about climate change to justify itself; nor does it contain anything but tired cliches about the absurdities of Hollywood moviemaking. Adding a feminist twist for today’s milieu doesn’t improve it. I would love to know what talented director Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown; Natasha, Pierre…) saw in this material that made her want to undertake it. Adam Rigg’s (The House That Will Not Stand) scenic design is effective, as are Brenda Abbandandolo’s (Octet) costumes. It was a fitfully entertaining, but ultimately disappointing evening. Running time: one hour 40 minutes, no intermission.

Small Mouth Sounds ***

After seeing Bess Wohl’s clever new play at Ars Nova, you may agree with the old adage that actions speak louder than words. Six participants in a spiritual retreat in the woods must observe silence for five days. Judy (Sakina Jaffrey) and Joan (Marcia DeBonis) are a lesbian couple going through a rough patch. The weepy Alicia (Jessica Almasy) is trying to get over a breakup. Ned (Brad Heberlee) is a hard-luck guy with a back story worthy of Job. Rodney (Babak Tafti) is a seemingly cool exhibitionist always ready for a showy yoga pose. Jan (Erik Lochtefeld) carries a framed photo of a young child with him everywhere. The unseen teacher (Jojo Gonzalez) spouts words of dubious wisdom which are practically the only ones we hear. Thanks to a uniformly strong cast, even through the silence we gain an understanding of and, in most cases, a sympathy for each person. (One character does break his silence with a well-timed monologue.) The costumes go a long way to establishing character. The cozy theater is a perfect setting for the production. It is a long, narrow shoebox all in blond woods and white panels with two rows of facing seats along the long walls and a small platform stage at one end. The panels above the seats serve as screens for projections of rain falling on leaves, sunsets and other images from nature that are reinforced by an excellent sound design. The bulk of the action takes place on the floor. Subtle lighting cues guide your attention to which of the six characters merits the most attention at any given moment. Their foibles are satirized with gentle affection. The talented director is Rachel Chavkin, who did such a fine job with “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812."  The play bears some similarities to Annie Baker’s “Circle Mirror Transformation,” but I think this is the better play. NOTE: There is some male nudity which is more comic than prurient. Running time: 100 minutes, no intermission.