Anatomy of a Suicide

B

After an acclaimed run at the Royal Court and a Blackburn Prize, British playwright Alice Birch’s ambitious experimental play is now in previews at Atlantic Theater Company. Birch (Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again) certainly does not make things easy for the audience. There are three different scenes, each from a different time period, being performed simultaneously onstage. Occasionally scenes coalesce with the same dialogue occurring in all three. To further complicate things, five of the ten actors play multiple roles. In addition, two of the characters are played by more than one actor. The links between the characters in the simultaneous scenes only gradually become clear. I don’t want to give too much away here. The three leading characters, Carol (Carla Gugino; After the Fall, A Kid Like Jake), Anna (Celeste Arias; Uncle Vanya at Hunter) and Bonnie (Gabby Beans; Marys Seacole), all suffer from emotional problems. The author seems to be suggesting that depression and a tendency to attempt suicide can be inherited. While I certainly give her credit for ambition, I sometimes found it difficult to divide my attention three ways. Attempting to tell three stories involving 22 characters does not allow much time to develop a character in any depth. The fine cast also included Jason Babinsky (Network), Ava Briglia (School of Rock), Julian Elijah Martinez (Network), Jo Mei (The World of Extreme Happiness), Vince Nappo (The Jew of Malta), Miriam Silverman (Junk, A Delicate Ship) and Richard Topol (Indecent, Fish in the Dark). The sparse set by Mariana Sanchez (Marys Seacole) includes scattered plants and bushes of varying size that seemed a bit incongruous. Kaye Voyce’s (True West, After the Blast) costumes are a great help in creating the characters. Director Lileana Blain-Cruz (Red Speedo, The House That Will Not Stand) deserves much credit for making the multiple components run like clockwork. While I was initially fascinated by the play’s challenges, I was rarely moved. While I admired it, I didn’t find it truly satisfying. Running time: one hour 45 minutes, no intermission.

NOTE: Avoid seats in Row B at the Linda Gross Theater; there is no rise between Rows A and B.

Uncle Vanya (Hunter Theater Project)

B-

Under the leadership of Theater Department Chair Gregory Mosher, Hunter College has initiated a program of producing bare-bones theatrical productions at an affordable price ($37) in their intimate Frederic Loewe Theater. Launching the project is this version of a Chekhov masterpiece directed by Richard Nelson, who also collaborated on the translation with today’s go-to Russian literature translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. On the basis of his Apple Family Plays and the Gabriel trilogy, some have dubbed Nelson the American Chekhov, so it is fascinating to see what happens when he gives the Russian master his “let’s sit around the kitchen table and talk” approach. For me, the results are a bit disappointing; there is too much Nelson and too little Chekhov. Nelson’s approach restricts the play’s emotional range and drains some of its humor and pathos. Some of Chekhov’s words, such as Sonya’s concluding speech, just do not lend themselves to a conversational approach. The level of the acting is quite uneven. Nelson stalwarts Jay O. Sanders as Vanya and Jon DeVries as Alexander Serebryakov make powerful impressions. Yvonne Woods is strong as Sonya. Celeste Arias fares reasonably well in the enigmatic role of the old professor’s young wife Elena. In the minor roles of Sonya’s former nanny Marina, Kate Kearney-Patch is adequate. As grandmother Marya, Alice Cannon barely registers. The unfortunate casting of the key role of Dr. Astrov is the weakest element of the production. Although Jesse Pennington certainly looks the part, he barely whispers many of his lines and shows so little affect that he almost seems in a trance. During a few monologues, actors directly address audience members, which I think works rather well. John Ardizzone-West's scenic design consists mostly of three kitchen tables, several mismatched chairs and some dinnerware. Mark Koss's costumes do not look very Russian. I had forgotten that the play includes a strong ecological message that is even more relevant today. Fortunately Chekhov’s genius is resilient and comes through this adaptation mostly intact. While far from an unalloyed success, the evening is an interesting experiment worth experiencing and a promising start for the Hunter Theater Project. Running time: one hour 45 minutes; no intermission.