Continuity

C-

Don’t be fooled by the teaser in the ads for this new play by Bess Wohl (Small Mouth Sounds) at MTC’s Stage II. While it contains no outright falsehoods, it subtly misleads by making the plot sound far more interesting than it turns out to be. A movie about climate change is being shot, for tax reasons, in the hot New Mexico desert, although it is set in a frigid clime. Maria (Rosal Colon; Between Riverside and Crazy), the film's director, a Sundance favorite, has been entrusted with her first feature film. Although she is nominally in charge, the studio has sent Caxton (Darren Goldstein; The Little Foxes), a seasoned screenwriter, to the set to turn her small, serious film into something more commercial. Caxton also happens to be Maria’s former lover; furthermore, after a fearsome diagnosis, he must face his own mortality. The three actors we meet in the scene that we see over and over and over are ecoterrorist George (Alex Hurt; Cardinal, Placebo), played by dumb hunk Jake; Nicole (Megan Ketch; Cry It Out), a former love played by prima donna and recovering coke addict Eve, who is out to stop him from detonating a bomb that will set off a huge tsunami; and Lily (Jasmine Batchelor; The River), the scientist George is determined to kill, played by African-English actress Anna. For comic relief, we have a production assistant Max (Garcia; upcoming “Tales of the City”) who valiantly copes with various disasters and conflicting requests. We also occasionally hear from the grip (Curran Connor; Dido of Idaho). Larry (Max Baker; The Village Bike), the film’s science adviser, brings everyone down by stating his opinion that the film is too little too late and part of the problem rather than the solution. The play offers no new information about climate change to justify itself; nor does it contain anything but tired cliches about the absurdities of Hollywood moviemaking. Adding a feminist twist for today’s milieu doesn’t improve it. I would love to know what talented director Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown; Natasha, Pierre…) saw in this material that made her want to undertake it. Adam Rigg’s (The House That Will Not Stand) scenic design is effective, as are Brenda Abbandandolo’s (Octet) costumes. It was a fitfully entertaining, but ultimately disappointing evening. Running time: one hour 40 minutes, no intermission.

The Village Bike ***

This British import, now in previews in an MCC Theater production at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, marks two auspicious debuts — the American debut of up-and-coming English playwright Penelope Skinner and the stage debut of indie film actress Greta Gerwig. Both firsts are cause for celebration. Skinner’s play provides a fresh look at female libido, the confines of English country life and the uses and abuses of porn. Gerwig is superb as Becky, an English teacher, newly pregnant, starting the summer holiday with environmentally correct hubby John (the fine Jason Butler Harner) in their just-acquired country home. In a twist on convention, it is the pregnant wife who becomes sexually needy, while her baby-obsessed husband loses all interest in sex. Becky cannot tempt him even with favorites from their large collection of porn films. Skinner teases us with classic porn cliches — the plumber Mike (Max Baker) who arrives to fix Becky’s pipes and an eccentric neighbor Oliver (Scott Shepherd) who delivers the used bike Becky has purchased from him dressed as a highwayman in tight britches. Becky dreads the visits of Jenny (Cara Seymour), a well-meaning but desperately lonely neighbor whose husband is rarely around and who is bullied by her children. Becky’s bicycle gives her the freedom to pursue an affair that begins as a carefree exploration of porn-inspired fantasies but soon turns into obsession and desperation. We also meet Alice (Lucy Owen), Oliver’s wife, in a part so small that it could easily have been dispensed with. For me, the play did not provide a satisfactory resolution, but it kept me engrossed almost to the end. It could benefit from a slight trim. In a uniformly strong cast, the American actors handled their English accents with assurance. The cottage setting by Laura Jellinek was so thoroughly reconfigured during intermission that the stage crew got a round of applause. It may have been a technical triumph, but I thought it was an inelegant solution to the changes of location. Clint Ramos’ costumes were excellent. Ubiquitous director Sam Gold handles the material well. Running time: 2 hours 25 minutes including intermission. NOTE: In British slang, "village bike" means "local slut."