Rinse, Repeat

B-

With seemingly increasing frequency, Pershing Square Signature Center has been renting space to outside productions, including this unfortunately titled drama written by and starring Domenica Feraud. A “problem” play about an eating disorder, it would have fit more comfortably as a disease-of-the-week offering on the Lifetime channel. Debilitated by a severe case of anorexia, Rachel had to take a leave from her senior year at Yale to enter a residential treatment facility where she has spent the last four months. The action takes place during a trial weekend at her family home in Greenwich, CT which will determine whether she is ready to be discharged. Her svelte mother Joan (Florencia Lozano; Placebo, Privilege) is a second-generation Latin immigrant who is now a high-powered lawyer in a top law firm and the family’s main breadwinner. Her father Peter (Michael Hayden; The Lady from Dubuque, Cabaret) is a preppy, not very successful architect who has burned through a trust fund. Her younger brother Brody (Jake Ryan Lozano; Sweat) is a high school jock who tries to avoid his family as much as possible. Her caseworker Brenda (Portia; In Arabia We’d All Be Kings) has given Rachel’s parents strict instructions that Rachel must not be left alone during the weekend, a caveat that you can be sure will soon be ignored, with consequences that reveal deep rifts within the marriage and a secret about Joan. The depiction of Rachel's struggle with food is vivid and one feels for her. She has a brief nude moment justified by the plot. However, I was so drawn in by the toxic family dynamic that I wondered more about the future of the marriage than about Rachel. The production is lavish with a kitchen set by Brittany Vasta (Octet, Life Sucks) sure to evoke envy and excellent costumes by Nicole Slaven. Kate Hopkins’s (Cost of Living, After the Blast) direction is assured. With its topic and its infelicitous title, it is not an easy play to market, which probably explained the sparse audience. That’s a shame, because it has many absorbing moments and some fine acting, particularly by Florencia Lozano. Running time: 95 minutes, no intermission.

All My Sons

A

Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of Arthur Miller’s first successful play is as fine a production of a Miller play as I ever hope to see. All the elements — casting, direction, scenic design, costumes, lighting, sound design and projections —are near perfect. Tracy Letts (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf), Annette Benning (Spoils of War, Coastal Disturbances) and Benjamin Walker (American Psycho, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) all give performances that I will not soon forget. Francesca Carpanini (The Little Foxes), Hampton Fluker (Too Heavy for Your Pocket) and Michael Hayden (Judgment at Nuremberg) are solid in feature roles, as are Jenni Barber (The Nance), Monte Greene, Nehal Joshi (School of Rock) and Chinasa Ogbuagu (Her Portmanteau, Sojourners) in supporting ones. Together they convincingly portray a close-knit community. Director Jack O’Brien (Carousel, The Hard Problem) uncovers a depth and breadth in the play that I had not found in previous productions. He also knits the various subplots together with uncommon skill. Douglas W. Schmidt’s (Into the Woods, The Front Page) set depicts an idyllic Midwestern yard and house facade. Jane Greenwood’s (She Loves Me, Major Barbara) costumes capture the period well. Jeff Sugg’s (Sweat, Bring It On) projections are used sparingly but effectively. Miller’s depiction of the dark side of the American Dream sadly remains as relevant now as it was in 1947. Today it may be a group of anonymous Boeing executives who are putting unsafe planes in the air instead of an individual parts supplier, but they are motivated by the same corrosive greed. Rarely have I been in an audience that was so totally involved. It is definitely one of the dramatic highlights of the season. Running time: two hours 20 minutes including an intermission and a brief pause.

The Lady from Dubuque **

(Please click on the title to see the entire review.)
When the new play Edward Albee was writing for Signature Theatre wasn't ready in time, they bravely -- or foolishly -- decided to replace it with this play, Albee's most notorious flop, which ran for 12 performances on Broadway in 1980. It is indeed a very strange play, uncomfortably blending black humor and pathos. Three suburban couples are playing 20 Questions in the home of Sam (Michael Hayden) and Jo (Laila Robins). Lucinda (Catherine Curtin), a friend of Jo's since college, and her husband Edgar (Thomas Jay Ryan) are treated with contempt by the others. The thrice-married Fred (C.J. Wilson) keeps telling prospective wife #4 Carol (Tricia Paoluccio) to shut up as she tries unsuccessfully to fit in. There is much bickering with occasional asides to the audience. Jo is terminally ill and in great pain, a circumstance that she uses as a license to treat everyone horridly. After the guests leave and the hosts go to bed, Elizabeth (Jane Alexander), an enigmatic older woman of regal bearing and her mysterious black companion Oscar (Peter Francis James) suddenly appear. When Sam discovers the pair in his living room the next morning, Elizabeth tells him that she is Jo's estranged mother. He refuses to believe her. The party guests from the previous night reappear and resume their bickering. Jo unquestioningly accepts the comfort offered by Elizabeth. Is she Jo's mother, the angel of death, or just the lady from Dubuque? Your guess is as good as mine. The play alternates hilarity with inscrutability and tragedy. Jo's piercing screams of pain will not leave my memory soon enough. It is not top-drawer Albee, but I was glad to have the opportunity to see it. I won't go so far as to recommend it though. The cast is fine, except that Hayden's performance seemed a bit overheated. David Esbjornson directed. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes including intermission.