The Waverly Gallery

C

Buoyed by the success of the revivals of This Is Our Youth and Lobby Hero, the powers that be thought it would be a good idea to bring back Kenneth Lonergan’s semi-autobiographical 2000 memory play about a dementia-addled octogenarian and the effects of her illness on her loving but frazzled family. Eileen Heckart’s powerful performance in the central role of Gladys made the original production a must-see event, even though the play was not one of Lonergan’s stronger efforts. I regret to say that Elaine May (California Suite, Luv) is no match for Ms. Heckart. The limited range of her facial expression weakens her performance and, therefore, the play itself. The actors playing her family are all strong. For me, the main reason to attend is to see the wonderful Joan Allen (Burn This, The Heidi Chronicles) onstage again, playing her daughter Ellen. David Cromer (Our Town) captures the well-meaning but clumsy behavior of Ellen’s second husband Howard. Lucas Hedges (Yen), in his Broadway debut, plays the long-suffering grandson whose apartment is just down the hall from Gladys’s and who therefore bears the brunt of dealing with her decline. He has the additional burden of narrating the play. A not very well-integrated subplot involves a naive, unsuccessful artist, Don (Michael Cera; Lobby Hero), just arrived in New York, whom Gladys befriends and installs in the back room of her failing Greenwich Village gallery. Even though Gladys fulfills his dream of a one-man show, he becomes disillusioned with life in New York. On the one hand, Cera avoids most of his usual annoying mannerisms; on the other, he does not create a very vivid character. I found it uncomfortable to laugh at Gladys’s behavior, knowing its source and its eventual outcome. There was no conflict within the family how to take care of Gladys and little insight provided about her illness or the best way to mitigate its effects. Perhaps it was cathartic for the author to describe her decline, but, in my opinion, there is little payoff for the audience. Without a really mesmerizing Gladys, the play’s weaknesses become more apparent. David Zinn’s (The Humans) set presents four distinct locations that are revealed behind a brick-wall front curtain. Old film clips of New York are projected on the wall between scenes. Perhaps director Lila Neugebauer (The Antipodes, At Home at the Zoo) could have found more depth in the play; perhaps not. Running time: two hours ten minutes including intermission.

Relatively Speaking **

Three one-act plays by Ethan Coen, Elaine May and Woody Allen, now in previews at the Brooks Atkinson, are loosely linked by the theme of dysfunctional families.

The evening begins with Coen's "The Talking Cure," a series of sessions between psychiatrist (Jason Kravits) and patient (Danny Hoch). When the audience thought the play was over and started to applaud, the set suddenly opened to reveal the patient's parents (Fred Melamed and Katherine Borowitz) bickering at the dining room table when he was still in the womb. For me this scene detracted from, rather than added to, the play. I had previously seen two evenings of Coen's short plays and was underwhelmed both times. This one didn't change my opinion. In the presence of the great masters Elaine May and Woody Allen, Coen's work seemed not ready for prime time. I admire Coen's persistence, but the magic he works on screen doesn't seem to carry over to the stage.

Next up is Elaine May's "George Is Dead." Marlo Thomas shines as Doreen, a rich, selfish woman who has been so pampered that she is unable to act on her own. When her husband dies in a skiing accident, she turns up on the doorstep of Carla, her ex-nanny's grown daughter (the excellent Lisa Emery), on a night that she has fought with her husband Michael (Grant Shaud). Michael is a disillusioned liberal who is furious when he finds that Doreen, the woman to whom Carla's mother (Patricia O'Connell) had given precedence over her own daughter, is ensconced in their apartment. What follows goes on a bit too long, but the pleasure of hearing May's sparkling lines outweighed the play's shortcomings, at least for me.

Last but certainly not least is Woody Allen's hilarious farce "Honeymoon Motel," which by itself is worth the price of admission. This is the Woody Allen of old with nonstop funny dialogue and no pretense of seriousness. Allen presents the wedding night from Hell in the tacky honeymoon suite of a Long Island motel. We have a bride and groom, Nina Roth and Paul Jessup (the marvelous Ari Graynor and Bill Army), the bride's parents Sam and Fay Roth (Mark Linn-Baker and Allen veteran Julie Kavner), the groom's mother and stepfather Judy and Jerry Spector (Caroline Aaron and Steve Guttenberg, both terrific), Jerry's friend Eddie (Grant Shaud again), Jerry's shrink (Jason Kravits again), a rabbi (Richard Libertini) and a pizza delivery man (Danny Hoch again.) Mayhem ensues.

There are over three weeks until opening night, ample time for the playwrights and director John Turturro to work out some of the rough spots. I personally would have preferred seeing a longer version of the Allen play all by itself.

There was a service dog sitting under the seat next to the friend I attended with. Judging from the vigorous way he wagged his tail when the play ended, we were convinced that he enjoyed it too.

Running time:  2 hours, 20 minutes including a pause and an intermission