"Daddy"

C-

Because I thoroughly enjoyed Jeremy O. Harris’s Slave Play at New York Theatre Workshop a few months ago, I have been looking forward to his new play for Vineyard Theatre and The New Group, now playing at Pershing Square Signature Center. While it shares with the earlier play a focus on interracial relationships, it unfortunately lacks that play’s wit and resonance. Subtitled “A Melodrama,” it revolves around Franklin (Ronald Peet; Spill, Cute Activist), a young LA-based black artist; Andre (Alan Cumming; Cabaret), the rich, white, middle-aged art collector with whom he begins a relationship; and Zora (Charlayne Woodard; Ain’t Misbehavin’, War), Franklin’s bible-quoting disapproving mother. We also meet Franklin’s vapid friends Bethany (Kahyun Kim; Love and Money) and Max (Tommy Dorfman; “13 Reasons Why”) as well as Alessia (Hari Nef, “Transparent”), the brassy owner of the gallery where Franklin is about to have his first show. There is also a three-woman gospel choir (Carrie Compere, Denise Manning, Onyie Nwachuckwu) whose presence adds a fanciful touch. For a good chunk of the first act, Franklin and Andre debate the contemporary art scene. While Bethany is inspired by Franklin’s good fortune in finding a sugar daddy, Max is jealous and resentful. Alessia is excited at the prospect of representing a hot new artist who will put her gallery on the map. Zora senses a threat and comes to town to see what’s up. She and Andre do not hit it off. We see the ups and downs of Franklin’s relationships at length — great length. Harris knows how to go for the theatrical: an onstage swimming pool, extensive male frontal nudity, simulated gay sex, larger than life dolls and that gospel choir. Alas, he is better at grabbing our attention than at maintaining it. My interest waned long before the third and final act drew to a close. Alan Cumming and Charlayne Woodard are always worth seeing onstage. The wonderful set design by Matt Saunders (Pipeline, Venus) featuring the pool of a Bel Air mansion is beautifully lit by Isabella Byrd (The Thanksgiving Play). The costumes by Montana Levi Blanco (Fabulation, In the Blood) add to the LA vibe. Director Danya Taymor (Pass Over, Familiar) keeps things moving smoothly except for an awkward scene break in the final act that many in the audience thought (or hoped) was the play’s ending. There are some worthwhile moments in the play, but they do not add up to a satisfying work. Running time: two hours 50 minutes including two intermissions. NOTE: Avoid rows A and B. People in row A will need the towels they have been provided to protect them from splashes from the pool. There is no rake between rows A and B so if you are sitting in row B behind a tall person, you are out of luck.

Slave Play

A-

Jeremy O. Harris certainly qualifies as this season’s hot young playwright. In addition to this work at New York Theatre Workshop, he has a second play, Daddy, coproduced by The New Group and Vineyard Theatre, coming up in February. He was a MacDowell Colony Fellow and has been commissioned by both Lincoln Center Theater and Playwrights Horizons. The current play has already won the 2018 Kennedy Center Rosa Parks Playwriting Award and the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award. Not bad for someone in his second year at Yale School of Drama. 

This is a difficult review to write because to tell you too much about the play would be to spoil much of the pleasurable surprise I hope you will experience seeing it. I can say that it involves interracial sex and is not just sexy, but also hilarious, provocative and highly theatrical. The setting is specified as MacGregor Plantation in Virginia. The play has three acts performed without a break. In the long first act, we meet Jim (Paul Alexander Nolan; Escape to Margaritaville), a white tenant farmer on the plantation, and Kaneisha (Teyonah Parris; A Free Man of Color), the slave who is cleaning his shack. Next we meet Alana (Annie McNamara; The Sound and the Fury), the bored mistress, and Phillip (Sullivan Jones; The Winning Side), the studly mulatto house-servant/musician. Finally there are Gary (Ato Blankson-Wood; Lysistrata Jones), a black overseer, and Dustin (James Cusati-Moyer; Fire and Air), a white indentured servant whose work Gary is supervising. Things happen. After an abrupt ending, we are in the extended second act, which has an entirely different tone and casts everything we have seen so far in a new light. This act includes two new characters, Tea (Chalia La Tour; The Danger) and Patricia (Irene Sofia Lucio; Love and Information). The short dramatic final act combines elements of the previous two, but features only one of the couples. I realize this description does not give you much to go on, but trust me that it’s better not to know a lot in advance. The cast is uniformly strong. The scenic design by Cllint Ramos (Once on This Island, Torch Song) includes an astroturf stage backed by eight large mylar panels that reflect not only the audience but a painting of the plantation house on the auditorium’s back wall. The costumes by Dede Ayite (American Son, School Girls), especially Alana’s gown, are a treat. The lighting design by Jiyoun Chang adds a lot to the production. Director Robert O’Hara (Wild with Happy, Bella), whose direction of his own plays has not always been optimal, does a smooth job here, capturing the play’s many moods. I assure you that you won’t be bored, although I do feel that the long second act could use a trim. It’s not for those offended by nudity or sexual situations. Others should find it both entertaining and thought-provoking. Running time: two hours five minutes, no intermission.