Transfers

B+

Through a scheduling fluke, we have two interesting plays about college admissions running at the same time — Admissions by Joshua Harmon at Lincoln Center Theater and now Transfers by Lucy Thurber in an MCC production at Lucille Lortel Theatre. Both are worth seeing. (Go to https://gothamplaygoer.blogspot.com/2018/03/admissions.html for my review of Admissions.) In Ms. Thurber’s play, we meet two students from a New York community college, one African-American, the other Hispanic, who are vying with six other applicants for a chance to attend an elite New England liberal arts institution. This university admits two worthy low-income transfer students annually as a rather grudging token gesture toward affirmative action. We also meet the three members of the selection committee, an African-American humanities professor, a women’s rugby coach and a recruiter for the scholarship program. Clarence Matthews (Ato Blankson-Wood; Iphigenia in Aulis, Lysistrata Jones) is gay, black and an avid reader. Cristofer Rodriguez (Juan Castano; A Parallelogram) is a great wrestler, rough-edged and unfiltered. It turns out that the two boys knew each other in the Bronx when they were younger, under fraught circumstances. David DeSantos (Glenn Davis; Wig Out!) not only has recruited them but attempts to prep them for their admissions interviews. The bookish Clarence’s interview with Professor Geoffrey Dean (Leon Addison Brown; The Trip to Bountiful; Master Harold and the Boys) seems to go very well. Cristofer’s interview with Coach Rosie McNulty (Samantha Soule; The Philanthropist, Barbecue) is both hilarious and moving. When the committee meets, the behavior of its three members does not always conform to our expectations. Interesting questions about readiness for college versus worthiness for college are raised. Ms. Thurber (The Hill Town Plays) knows how to create vivid characters and write lively dialogue. The scenes occasionally run on too long. The story of what happened back in the Bronx remains a bit murky. The ending seemed a bit contrived. Nevertheless, the play fully engaged my interest. The actors are all fine, especially Mr. Castano, whose Cristofer is one of the most memorable characters I have seen on a New York stage this season. The scenic design by Donyale Werle (The Legend of Georgia McBride, Peter and the Starcatcher) transforms smoothly to five different locations. The costumes by Jessica Ford (Stuffed, These Paper Bullets) are apt. Jackson Gay’s (Stuffed, These Paper Bullets) direction is seamless. This will be MCC’s final production at the Lortel before their move to the Far West 50’s. I will miss them, but am glad they are ending on a high note. Running time: one hour 45 minutes; no intermission.

A Parallelogram

A-

The folks at Second Stage Theater seem to be working their way through Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s backlist. Last season they brought Tracy Letts’s 2003 work The Man from Nebraska to town with (to me at least) middling results. Their latest import from Chicago is this 2010 dark comedy by Bruce Norris (The Pain and the Itch, Clybourne Park, Domesticated and The Qualms). I can happily report that the results are much better this time around. It’s hard to describe the play without giving too much away. Think Twilight Zone and Groundhog Day blended with a witty play about relationships. Although there are metaphysical elements involved in the premise, don’t let that worry you. You don’t need to understand them to enjoy the play. There is also a debate over free will vs. determinism and an attempt to answer the question of how we would behave if we knew the future. Did I mention that the play is also very funny? Bee (Celia Keenan-Bolger; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Oldest Boy) is a depressive woman in her 30s living with a somewhat older man, the maddeningly self-absorbed Jay (Stephen Kunken; Enron, Frost/Nixon, Rx, The Apple Family Plays, Nikolai and the Others), who has left his wife and children for her. The characters played by Anita Gillette (Chapter Two, The Big Meal, “30 Rock”) are identified as Bee 2, Bee 3 and Bee 4. Is one of them an older version of Bee, unseen by the other characters, who foretells Bee’s future and has a remote control that allows her to rewind time or even fast forward to the future or is she just a manifestation of some medical problem? Last but not least is JJ (Juan Castano), the Latino lawn boy who develops a rapport with Bee. The production is first-rate: the cast is uniformly excellent, the direction by Michael Greif (Dear Evan Hansen, Next to Normal, Grey Gardens) is sharp and the clever set by Rachel Hauck (Animal, Latin History for Morons) transforms wondrously. Jeff Mahshie’s (Next to Normal, She Loves Me) costumes are apt. The play has more to appeal to the intellect and the funny bone than to the heart. It runs a bit long too. But it you want to see a quirky example of superb stagecraft, I highly recommend it. Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes including intermission.