Summer Shorts Series A

B+

The 11th edition of the Festival of New American Short Plays is now onstage at 59E59 Theater.  

Summer Shorts Series A opens with Melissa Ross’s (Of Good Stock) two-hander Jack, about a divorced couple George (Quincy Dunn-Baker; The End of Longing and By the Water) and Maggie (Claire Karpen; The Heir Apparent), whose bickering over the loss of their beloved dog Jack reflects their difficultly in finding closure. It’s funny, touching and wise. Mimi O’Donnell's direction finds all the right notes.

Next up is Playing God, an extended sketch by Alan Zweibel (SNL and Curb Your Enthusiasm) in which God (Bill Buell; Rancho Viejo) and his acerbic assistant (Welker White) teach a lesson to the self-satisfied Dr. Fisher (Dana Watkins), an obstetrician whose vacation dates take priority over his patient Barbara’s (Flora Diaz) due date. It’s funny but slight. Maria Mileaf’s direction finds all the laughs.

The evening’s finale, Acolyte by Graham Moore (The Imitation Game), is based on an episode in the life of Ayn Rand. Rand (Orlagh Cassidy) and her boozy husband Frank O’Connor (Ted Koch) are hosting Nathaniel (Sam Lilja) and Barbara (Bronte England-Nelson), a young married couple, Rand disciples who have been admitted to her inner circle. The conversation ranges from Plato to Aristotle to Rand’s Objectivism, a philosophy that placed a high value on pursuing one’s self-interest. Rand puts her philosophy into practice and cleverly manipulates those around her to get their blessing for her to do exactly what she wants. It’s clever and smart, but devotes too much time to a long but interesting monologue by Rand. Alexander Dinelaris (screenwriter of Birdman) directs with assurance.

All three plays are well-cast. Dunn-Baker, Cassidy and England-Nelson were especially good. Rebecca Lord-Surratt’s simple set makes effective use of shoji screens. Amy Sutton’s costume designs, especially the period attire for Acolyte, are quite good. Sound designer Nick Moore does wonders for a squash game in Playing God.

All in all, it was a satisfying evening and a big improvement over last year’s edition. Running time: 90 minutes; no intermission.

Boy *

I had high hopes for Anna Ziegler’s new play, now in previews at Keen Company in a co-production with Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Ziegler’s recent play “A Delicate Ship” was intriguing, the topic of nature vs. nurture in the context of gender reassignment surgery sounded promising, and the star was Bobby Steggert, an actor whose work I have always admired. The play is based on an actual case. When Sam, one of their twin boys is accidentally mutilated in a botched circumcision, his parents turn to a famous physician who persuades them to remove the boy’s remaining genitals and raise him as a girl. Eventually, nature trumps nurture and the adolescent Samantha decides to live in accordance with genetic makeup. Most of the action takes place when the protagonist, now known as Adam, is 22, but there are flashbacks to the birth year and the years in between. Trudy and Doug, the parents faced with the terrible decision of how to raise their damaged child, are well-played by Heidi Armbruster and Ted Koch. Jenny (Rebecca Rittenhouse) is effective as the woman Adam takes a shine to. Paul Niebanck as Dr. Wendell Barnes, the doctor who treated Samantha for a dozen years and is blinded by the desire to prove his theories, comes across as stiff. Steggert’s character seems too childlike as an adult and too grown up as a child, a fault I blame on the playwright and, to a lesser extent, on director Linsay Firman. The dialog is extremely clunky at times and the situation’s inherent potential for drama is largely unrealized. The scenic design by Sandra Goldmark featuring a second set of furnishings upside down and in reverse above the main set behind a scrim seemed like a clumsy metaphor. Unfortunately, my high expectations led to deep disappointment. Running time: 85  minutes; no intermission.