Final Follies

B-

Primary Stages is celebrating its long association with the late A.R. Gurney with an evening of three of his one-act plays at the Cherry Lane Theatre. Each satirizes one of his favorite targets: the decline of WASPdom, suburban ennui and academic shenanigans. 

The first offering, the presciently titled “Final Follies,” was Gurney’s last work. In it, Nelson (Colin Hanlon; In Transit, Dot), a feckless WASP, applies for a job as a porn star rather than accept an allowance from his generous but controlling grandfather (Greg Mullavey; The Sisters Rosensweig, Clever Little Lies). Tanisha (Rachel Nicks; War, And I and Silence) is the attractive receptionist at the film studio’s office. Walter (Mark Junek; The Hairy Ape) is Nelson’s uptight brother, whose jealousy leads him to attempt to turn their grandfather against Nelson. The results are unexpected. It’s all quite amusing, if slight. 

The second play, “The Rape of Bunny Stuntz” from 1965, actually had its first production at the Cherry Lane. Bunny (Deborah Rush; Noises Off, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot) is a buttoned-down suburban matron who is about to chair the meeting of some unidentified self-help group. Things get off to a bad start when she can’t find the key to the metal box containing everything she needs for the meeting. Her two minions Howie Hale (Piter Marek; Disgraced, Cyrano de Bergerac) and Wilma Trumbo (Betsy Aidem; All the Way, Nikolai and the Others) are of little help to her when the attendees retire to the cafeteria for refreshments until Bunny is ready to start the meeting. An unseen menacing figure in a leather jacket lurks offstage claiming he has her key. Bunny offers possible explanations that grow ever more self-incriminating. The play never really takes off and was by far the weakest of the three. The uncannily timely thing about the play is that Bunny talks about the detailed calendar she keeps to document her every activity. Sound familiar?

After intermission, we get “The Love Course” from 1969, the longest and strongest of the three. We meet Professors Burgess (Mr. Marek) and Carroway (Ms. Aidem) at the final session of the course they have jointly taught, “The Literature of Love.” It will not be offered again because she is moving to Mt. Holyoke after being turned down for tenure while he is moving up into administration. Sally (Ms. Hicks), one of Prof. Carroway’s favorite students, has brought her boyfriend Mike (Mr. Hanlon) along. The flamboyant Professor Carroway has boundary issues, confusing emotions on the page with those in the classroom. Her fury at Professor Burgess for perceived grievances boils over with hilarious results. There is not really much substance behind it all, but it’s very enjoyable.

The actors are all attuned to Gurney's sensibilities. David Saint (The Fourth Wall), a frequent collaborator of Gurney’s, directs with assurance. The minimalist set by James Youmans (The Fourth Wall) utilizes — some might say over-utilizes — concentric frames of colored light to frame the proscenium. David Murin’s (Steel Magnolias) costumes are spot-on. 

Two out of three isn’t bad. I think the evening would have been better without the second play, but it didn’t spoil things for me. Running time: two hours ten minutes including intermission.

Women or Nothing **

(Please click on the title to see the complete review.)
Whether or not you will enjoy Ethan Coen's new comedy for the Atlantic Theater Company depends largely on how much disbelief you are willing to suspend for some snappy dialogue and a few laughs. For me, accepting the premise of a pair of affluent sophisticated lesbians hatching a lame plot to trick a man into supplying the sperm for the child they want was too much of a stretch. Their plan makes little sense and is divorced from anything remotely resembling reality. On the plus side, the four actors (Halley Feiffer, Susan Pourfar, Robert Beitzel and Deborah Rush) play well together and two of the four scenes work quite well. Unfortunately, the final scene is a letdown. David Cromer's direction gets the most out of the script. Michele Spadaro's lavish set design of a Manhattan apartment incorporates a strange mixture of styles. Sarah Laux's costumes are apt. The play shows progress over Coen's recent one-act efforts, but still lacks the off-kilter inventiveness of a Coen screenplay. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes including intermission. NOTE: Avoid Row B at Atlantic's Linda Gross Theater -- there is no rake between Rows A and B and the seats are not staggered.