The Alchemist

B+

Red Bull Theater is in fine form with this lively version of Ben Jonson’s 1610 farce. The same creative team — Jesse Berger, director; Jeffrey Hatcher, adaptor; Alexis Distler, set designer; and Tilly Grimes, costume designer — who brought us The Government Inspector have created another audience pleaser. The uniformly excellent cast of ten skilled farceurs performs with a combination of precision and abandon. To escape the plague, a wealthy Londoner has retired to the country and left his house under the care of his butler (Manoel Felciano), who invites two con artists, Subtle (Reg Rogers) and Dol Common (Jennifer Sanchez), to join him and turn the house into a base for perpetrating lucrative scams on gullible locals. Their intended victims include Abel Drugger (Nathan Christopher), a meek tobacconist; Dapper (Carson Elrod), a legal clerk with a gambling habit; Sir Epicure Mammon (Jacob Ming-Trent), a rich man and his skeptical servant Surly (Louis Mustillo); Ananais (Stephen DeRosa), a religious fanatic; Kastril (Allen Tedder), an angry young man, and Dame Pliant (Teresa Avia Lim), his widowed sister. The ensuing antics are too convoluted to describe here. The six doors, two stairways and one secret panel all get lots of use. The dialogue is filled with amusing anachronisms. The plot even manages to work in a touch of James Bond and a Brooklyn accent. The frantic activity wears a bit thin after intermission, but that’s a minor complaint. It’s a delightful treat for those who care for this sort of thing. If you liked The Government Inspector, you will probably enjoy The Alchemist. (Running time: two hours including intermission.)

The Headlands

B

The folks at LCT3 are doing playwright Christopher Chen (Caught) a disservice by describing his likable new play as “contemporary noir.” While the setting is San Francisco and there is an unexplained death to be solved, the play does not really recall the world of classic noir films. Our amiable but unreliable narrator is Henry (Aaron Yoo; Where Do We Live?), a 30-ish Chinese-American Google engineer who, with the assistance of his girlfriend Jess (Mahira Kakkar; Miss Witherspoon), enjoys trying to solve cold cases. He often breaks the fourth wall to address the audience. The case he is currently investigating is about the shooting of a man ten years prior. While it was called a home burglary gone awry, there are some loose ends that suggest otherwise. We soon learn that the man shot was Henry’s father. Henry’s investigation leads him to discover a series of increasingly upsetting family secrets that call into question almost everything he thought he knew about his family. Along the way, his increasing obsession with solving the mystery alienates his girlfriend. The story is told mainly in flashback and makes heavy use of projections to set the scene. The unreliability of memory is a recurring theme. Bits and pieces of Henry’s memories change their significance with each discovery. Laura Kai Chen (Dan Cody’s Yacht) and Johnny Wu (Chinglish) are effective as Henry’s parents. Mia Katigbak (Awake and Sing) plays an older version of Henry’s mother as well as her no-nonsense best friend. Henry Stram (JUNK, Network) doubles as Henry’s father’s business partner Walter and as the detective who investigated the crime. Edward Chin-Lyn (Veil Window Conspiracy) is Tom, whose connection I shall not reveal. The set by Kimie Nishikawa (The Light) is a virtually bare gray space that is often covered with Ruey Horng Sun’s (King Kong) projected photographs and film clips. Tilly Grimes’s (Underground Railroad Game) costumes are apt. Knud Adams (Paris) direction is fluid. It’s an intriguing story which one wishes went a little deeper. The subplot about Henry’s relationship with his girlfriend is a definite weak spot. Nevertheless, I thought the play showed promise and was worth seeing. Also, it was good to see Asian-American actors have an opportunity. Running time: 90 minutes; no intermission.

Seared

B+

After a run last year in Williamstown, Theresa Rebeck’s (Seminar, Downstairs) entertaining comedy set in the kitchen of a tiny Park Slope restaurant has made it to New York in a first-rate production at MCC’s Frankel Theater. If you are a foodie, you will enjoy seeing Harry (Raul Esparza; Company, The Normal Heart), the brilliant but difficult chef, at work. Harry fancies himself a food artist unconcerned with critical acclaim or commercial success. To the great frustration of his partner Mike (David Mason; Trick or Treat) who funded the restaurant and runs the front of the house, Harry refuses to capitalize on a mention in New York magazine praising his scallop dish. Since the quality scallops he insists on are hard to come by in quantity, Harry refuses to make the dish a regular offering. When an attractive, rather mysterious consultant, Emily (Krysta Rodriguez; First Date, The Addams Family), visits the restaurant one night, she bends Mike’s ear with ideas for improving the restaurant. Mike is sold, but Harry is not. Much of the action consists of shouting matches over implementing Emily’s ideas. The relationship that develops between Harry and Emily is not completely hostile. Meanwhile, the restaurant’s sole waiter, Rodney (W. Tré Davis; Zooman and the Sign), quietly observes everything. When Emily persuades Harry to come up with a new signature dish, he develops one based on wild salmon, which is even harder to obtain than quality scallops. The first six minutes of the second act, with a jazz background but no dialogue, present Harry working on his new seared salmon dish. Depending on your interest in cooking, you will either be fascinated or bored. In any case, it is a virtuoso scene for Esparza. The simmering conflicts come to a boil when a major food critic arrives for a visit. The outcome was a surprise, at least for me. Rebeck writes actor-friendly roles. Everyone gets a chance to shine, Mason somewhat less than the others because his role is less fully developed. Esparza makes the most of a role that fits him well. Rodriguez is so much fun to watch that I was willing to overlook the fact that Emily’s motivation is never satisfactorily explained. Tim Mackabee’s (The Last Match, Vietgone) kitchen is wonderfully detailed. Tilly Grimes’s (Underground Railroad Game) costumes are apt. Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Bernhardt/Hamlet, Hand to God), directs with precision. If you don’t mind a lot of shouting and aren’t too concerned about credibility, you are likely to have an enjoyable experience. I did. Running time: two hours ten minutes including intermission. 

Underground Railroad Game

B+

Since winning the Obie in 2017 for “best new American theatre work,” this hilariously discomfiting examination of race, sex and power by Jennifer Kidwell (A Hard Time) and Scott R. Sheppard (The Appointment) has been on an extended domestic and international tour. Now it is back in New York at Ars Nova’s new downtown base at Barrow Street Theatre for an encore run. It is clearly not for everyone. If you are offended by nudity, depiction of sexual fantasies and/or rough language, you should skip this one. The two creators, who are also the entire cast, play middle school teachers — the black Caroline and the white Stuart — who are introducing their students to a participatory unit on the Civil War. To enliven things, they have created the titular game in which Union soldiers get points for rescuing escaped slaves while Confederate troops win points for capturing them. (Sheppard actually experienced such a game in fifth grade.) The audience is occasionally induced to be the student body at an assembly. Each audience member has either a grey or blue toy soldier taped beneath the seat. The audience involvement is minor and too mild to be annoying. As the unit progresses, Caroline and Stuart cautiously begin a relationship. The chasm between them grows as unexpected lessons are learned. The play, which jumps rapidly from the lesson plan to fantasies and surreal episodes, is so crammed with material that it is hard to believe that it is only 75 minutes long. The design credit is divided between Tillly Grimes (The Government Inspector) for production and Steven Dufala for scenic. I don’t know who did what, but the result is highly effective, as is Oona Curley’s (Good Grief) lighting. Director Taibi Magar (Blue Ridge) holds all the diverse elements together skillfully. The actors are both amazing. Since they are also the authors, they have no one to blame but themselves for what they are put through. I was alternately amused, annoyed, shocked and baffled. I don’t know whether you will love it or hate it, but I can guarantee that you won’t be bored. NOTE: Except for the last two rows, the auditorium is unraked so an unobstructed view is a matter of luck.

Noura

C

The program at Playwrights Horizons indicates that Heather Raffo’s (9 Parts of Desire) play about five Iraqi immigrants in New York was inspired by Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. My advice is to forget that fact because the connections between the two plays are tenuous at best. The titular character, performed by the playwright , is a woman approaching 40, an architect back in Mosul, who was uprooted with her husband and son eight years ago by ISIS. As a fair-skinned Christian, she had relatively little difficulty emigrating to the U.S. Her husband Tareq, now known as Tim (Nabil Elouahabi), was a surgeon back in Iraq but had to work in a fast-food restaurant when they arrived in New York. Their highly assimilated son Yazen, now Alex (Liam Campora; Marvin's Room), is mostly interested in video games. Rafa’a (Matthew David; Glamping), a Muslim obstetrician who emigrated several years before them, has been a friend of Noura’s since childhood and is a frequent visitor. As she prepares to celebrate their first Christmas as U.S. citizens, Noura is excited by the prospect of finally meeting Maryam (Dahlia Azama; Veil'd), a 26-year old orphan rescued from a convent bombed by ISIS, whom Noura has been sponsoring. Christmas dinner does not go well. Maryam is definitely not the deferential young woman Noura was expecting. She has already made an important life choice that her hosts find unacceptable and resents the mold they are trying to force her into. The play’s most grounded character, the likable Rafa’a, reveals a secret that he has kept hidden for many years. Tareq confesses to feelings about his wife that he has never admitted to her. Finally, Noura reveals her own shattering secret, one she has hidden for over a quarter century. There are many important issues raised by the play — the difficulties faced by immigrants, conflicting feelings about honoring a past that is forever gone while adjusting to a new life, dealing with nightmare memories of war. finding a balance between community and individualism, and facing the corrosive effects of tribalism, both in Iraq and in the U.S. Some of these are better worked into the fabric of the play than others. I am sorry that the author felt the need to add some melodrama to the mix. I was also troubled by the 180-degree personality change by one of the characters. The actors are good, especially Mr. David. Andrew Lieberman’s (The Glass Menagerie) set, while quite attractive, made little sense to me. Would a woman who can’t muster the commitment to buy a sofa install a massive brick room divider in her apartment? Tilly Grimes’s (The Thanksgiving Play) costumes suit each character well. Joanna Settle’s (9 Parts of Desire) direction is unobtrusive except that I was puzzled by scenes when Noura steps outside for an illicit smoke and we very faintly hear her thoughts. It is a play that, for me at least, did not live up to its ambitions. Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission.

The Thanksgiving Play

C+

If the thought of a Saturday Night Live sketch that lasts almost an hour and a half appeals to you, you will enjoy this new play by Larissa FastHorse now at Playwrights Horizons. Logan (Jennnifer Bareilles; The Studio System), a neurotic drama teacher already in trouble with parents over her last production, The Iceman Cometh with 15-year old actors, has cobbled together enough grant money from organizations promoting noble causes to produce and direct a 45-minute play for an elementary school audience, celebrating Native American Heritage Month. The three actors she has recruited to “devise” the play are Jaxton (Greg Keller; The Amateurs, Belleville), her slacker street-performer boyfriend; Caden (Jeffrey Bean; Bells Are Ringing), a nerdy elementary teacher with a passion for historically accurate playwriting; and Alicia (Margo Seibert; Rocky), a sexy but not very bright Hollywood starlet, hired under the mistaken impression that she is Native American. Before the play opens and at a few points during, the actors perform delightfully awful Thanksgiving songs and short skits suggested as appropriate for young audiences. The bulk of the play portrays their first and possibly only rehearsal, a virtual playbook of political correctness among the “woke” that leads to increasingly absurd situations as they tie themselves in knots trying to avoid offending anyone. The characters may be stereotypes but they are marvelously realized by the four actors. The satire is about as subtle as a sledgehammer, but there are some hilarious moments. A few theatrical “in” jokes are very funny. What disappointed me was that I thought a Native American playwright would offer some original insights on our November holiday that I didn’t find. I felt that the play might just as easily have been the work of a team of privileged white SNL writers. Even though I am a fan of broad satire, the play ran too long to sustain my interest. The set by Wilson Chin (Cost of Living, The Jammer) accurately recreates a high school drama classroom. The costumes by Tilly Grimes (The Government Inspector) are spot-on. Despite the best efforts of director Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Hand to God, Bernhardt/Hamlet), the play loses energy before it’s over. Running time: 85 minutes, no intermission.

The Great Leap

C+

This interesting new play at Atlantic Theater Company’s Stage 2  is just good enough that one wishes it were better. Playwright Lauren Yee (Cambodian Rock Band) displays a knack for sketching vivid characters and situations with dramatic potential. The action is mainly set in San Francisco and Beijing in the early summer of 1989. Saul (Ned Eisenberg; Awake and Sing!) is the coach of a failing collegiate basketball team who has been invited to bring his team to China to play an exhibition game with a Chinese team. Saul had been there 18 years before to help the Chinese improve their basketball skills. During that stay he befriended his translator Wen Chang (BD Wong; M. Butterfly, Pacific Overtures) and taught him enough about basketball to become a coach. Wen never forgot Saul’s remark that no Chinese team could ever defeat an American team and is out to prove him wrong. Manford (Tony Aidan Vo; Sea Wife) is a motor-mouthed 17-year-old high school senior who, despite being vertically challenged, is a basketball whiz determined to join Saul’s team and make the trip to Beijing. Connie (Ali Ahn; The Heidi Chronicles) is his cousin who really doesn’t have much to do except fill in some of the exposition. With no disrespect to the actor, I think the play would be stronger without her character. The game just happens to take place in the midst of the Tianenman Square uprising. Some of the other coincidences came across as a little too pat for me. I suspect you will guess some of the secrets before they are revealed. The three male characters all get a chance to shine. Eisenberg makes the most of the over-the-hill Bronx exile who cannot get a sentence out without a handful of four-letter words. Vo captures Manford’s relentless drive cloaked in amiability.  Wong has the least showy but most nuanced role as a man who has tried all his life never to stand out. The scenic design by Takeshi Kata (The Profane, Man from Nebraska), which consists mainly of a section of a basketball court, is augmented by projections by David Bengali (Van Gogh's Ear). Tilly Grimes’s (Underground Railroad Game) costumes are apt. The direction by Taibi Magar (Is God Is) is unfussy. There are some fine moments, but they are too few. Running time: one hour 55 minutes including intermission.

The Government Inspector

B+

Red Bull Theater is presenting Jeffrey Hatcher’s clever adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s 1836 comic masterpiece about corruption in a provincial Russian town. One of the strengths of the play is that it is simultaneously deeply Russian and universal. Hatcher has wisely decided not to update it or deemphasize its Russianness. He lets the audience find their own similarities to our times. This production’s biggest plus is the casting of Michael Urie (Buyer and Cellar, TV’s Ugly Betty) as Hlestakov, the wastrel who is mistaken for the visiting inspector. He demonstrates a previously unseen talent for physical comedy that is prodigious. As the mayor, Michael McGrath channels his inner Nathan Lane to our delight. Mary Testa is a hoot as the mayor’s wife. Arnie Burton chews the scenery as the postmaster and is droll as Hlestakhov’s servant Osip. Most of the other ten actors (Stephen DeRosa, Ryan Garbayo, Kelly Hutchinson, David Manis, Ben Mehl, Talent Monohon, Luis Moreno, James Rana, Tom Alan Robbins, Mary Lou Rosato) create vivid characters and work well as an ensemble. At two hours, the comedy wears a little thin. Alexis Distler’s set design is problematic. While the sets for each of the play’s three locations are effective, presenting them as a bilevel unit seems to be an inelegant and unnecessary solution. I advise against sitting in the first two rows, because you might get a stiff neck from looking up at the set’s upper level, where the last 3/4 of the action takes place. Tilly Grimes’s period costumes are wonderful. Red Bull’s artistic director Jesse Berger keeps things moving fluidly. If you enjoy farce and slapstick, well-performed, you will have an enjoyable time. Running time: two hours including intermission.

Kingdom Come ** C-

Jenny Rachel Weiner’s romantic comedy with poignant overtones is the latest offering at Roundabout Underground’s Black Box Theatre. Somewhat like LCT3, this program offers first-rate productions of works by emerging playwrights at affordable prices. Looking around at the audience, Roundabout seems to be more successful than LCT3 in drawing a younger audience. If you saw “Catfish,” you have an idea of the plot, except that in this instance both people are using deceitful online profiles. The twist is that they genuinely fall for each other. How the situation is resolved isn’t quite what you may expect. The characters are Samantha (Carmen M. Herlihy), a morbidly obese woman who rarely leaves her bed; Dolores (Socorro Santiago), Samantha’s home health aide; Dolores’s studly son Dominick (Alex Hernandez), an actor/busboy in L.A.; Layne (Crystal Finn), a repressed lonely bookkeeper; and Suz (Stephanie Styles), Layne’s younger, prettier, less inhibited coworker. Deceit breeds complications. The personable actors all make the most of their roles. There are some funny moments and clever twists along the way, but the material seemed thin and a bit forced. The set by Arnulfo Maldonado is simple but attractive. Tilly Grimes’s costumes are apt. Kip Fagan’s direction is smooth. Most of the audience reacted enthusiastically. For me, it was one online dating story too many. Running time: one hour 40 minutes, no intermission.