The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord

C-

Primary Stages’ season opener at the Cherry Lane Theatre is this high-concept comedy of ideas by Scott Carter. The playwright’s main credentials are that he was a stand-up comedian and later a writer/executive producer for Bill Maher’s television show. The play’s concept sounds promising: Imagine Thomas Jefferson (Michael Laurence; Appropriate). Charles Dickens (Duane Boutté; Parade) and Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Thom Sesma; Pacific Overtures) locked together in a room for reasons they do not understand. They appear as they looked at the height of their careers, rather than at the time of death. When they realize that each wrote his own version of the gospel, they think their purpose must be to combine their efforts into a joint work. When that fails, each tries to persuade the other two of the superiority of his own version. Finally, it occurs to them that maybe their real task is to examine their lives and face up to the gaps between their writings and their behavior. It was only at that point, about an hour in, that the play came to life for me and I stopped struggling to stay awake. During their recriminations, poor Jefferson comes in for the roughest treatment. Neither the humor nor the lofty discourse engaged me much. Maybe I nodded off for a crucial moment that would have made all the difference. I doubt it. The production is on the lavish side: a gilded proscenium arch decorated with books frames a red velvet curtain which lifts to reveal Wilson Chin’s (Aubergine) minimalist set of a bare room with a metal table and two chairs. Words are occasionally projected on the back wall. The period costumes by David Hyman (The Treasurer) are excellent. Laurence has a quiet dignity as Jefferson, but Boutté’s Dickens is too much a caricature and Sesma’s Tolstoy barely registers. That this play attracted a director the caliber of Kimberly Senior (Disgraced, The Who and the What) makes me wonder what she saw in it that I missed. Running time: 95 minutes, no intermission. 

The Treasurer

B-

Playwright Max Posner is a lucky man to have a Playwrights Horizons debut with a production featuring Peter Friedman (Circle Mirror Transformation, The Heidi Chronicles) and Deanna Dunagan (August: Osage County), directed by David Cromer (The Band’s Visit, Our Town). Friedman plays The Son, a middle-aged man of calm demeanor who confesses in the long opening monologue that he expects to go to Hell for not loving his mother Ida. He has good reason not to because she abandoned her family when he was 14. She went on to a second marriage, lived profligately and fancied herself the belle of Albany. When her second husband dies, the party is over and she must adjust to a diminished lifestyle. The Son is tasked by his siblings with the job of managing her finances. She willfully resists his attempts to trim her sails. Whenever the two of them lock horns, we see how hard it is for him to say “no” to her. The play darkens as we realize that she is sinking into dementia. Marinda Anderson (Bella: An American Tall Tale) and Pun Bandhu (Wit, Plenty) play an array of people she interacts with, including a fundraiser for the Albany Philharmonic, a Talbot’s salesperson, a stranger she calls to find out why she keeps remembering a particular phone number, and a bedding store salesperson. Anderson also plays a pregnant woman sitting next to The Son on a plane. There are some very funny bits along the way, some more relevant than others. My favorites were a conference call during which the siblings try to choose an appropriate dog for Ida and a scene, overlong but still hilarious, in which The Son attempts to answer the security questions to log onto his computer. The airplane scene fell flat and the need for a second scene with Ida and a salesperson was questionable. The play takes a turn for the worse near the end that erased some, but not all, of my positive feelings. It is uneven and fragmented and could benefit from further work. Nevertheless, Posner’s writing has a quirky energy that shows promise for the future. The set by Laura Jellinek (Mary Jane, A Life) is problematic. The way it is divided, there are scenes where audience members on a given side of the theater will not see the actor speaking. There is an elaborate unfolding of the set for one short scene that is one of the play’s least interesting. Lucy Mackinnon’s projections before the play opens are wasted because they are shown on a back wall with patterned wallpaper that is partially blocked from the view of much of the audience. David Hyman’s costumes for Ida are wonderful. Director Cromer is only partially successful in pulling it all together. While it doesn’t seem quite ready for prime time, it is an imaginative take on an all too relevant problem and affords the opportunity to see two top-notch actors at work. Running time: one hour 35 minutes; no intermission.

Hit the Wall **

(Please click on the title to see the complete review.)
Ike Holter's version of the Stonewall Riot of June 1969, now at the Barrow Street Theatre, is lively and contains some affecting moments, but it offers no new insights about the event and isn't even a very effective history lesson. The energetic ensemble cast tries, with varying success, to breathe life into stereotypical characters, chosen to reflect the diversity of the participants. Thus we get one drag queen, one black militant feminist, a WASP from suburbia appopriately called Newbie; a pair of wisecracking friends, one black and the other Hispanic; an innocent draft-dodger, a butch teen-aged lesbian, her straight sister, a closeted Wall Streeter, a cop and some hippie street musicians. Mix and match. There's dancing, rioting and a little gratuitous nudity. Nathan Lee Graham and Rania Salem Manganaro stand out as the drag queen and the young lesbian. Lauren Helpern's set design is a bit fragmented. David Hyman's costumes are fine. Director Eric Hoff keeps things moving. Ultimately, the play sheds more heat than light. Running time: 95 minutes, no intermission.