The Mother of Invention

D

Since I enjoyed James Lecesne's last play, The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, I was glad to see that Abingdon Theatre Company was presenting the world premiere of his latest work. Alas, the new play is not ready for prime time. It’s a grab bag of assorted plot lines: Alzheimer’s, sibling rivalry, paranoia over terrorism, filial obligations, New Age mysticism, sexy Latino as con man, gay fear of intimacy, surprising revelations in a diary, infidelity, euthanasia, gun violence and gratuitous nudity. Apparently the playwright thought that if he threw enough darts at the board, some of them would stick. Through most of the play, the mother Dottie (Concetta Tomei) addresses the other characters, although she is not actually with them. Her two unlikable children, Leanne and David, played by Angela Reed and James Davis, are packing up Dottie’s possessions in preparation to sell her house. Dale Soules (Shows for Days) breathes some life into the play in two roles — the paranoid neighbor and a homeless woman. Dan Domingues plays Frankie Rey, the sexy South American who is either a con man or a mystic or possibly both. Isabella Russo plays Ryder, Leanne’s precocious daughter. The walls of Jo Winiarski’s set are made of packing cartons, which the characters gradually remove as the play moves along, a process that was not fast enough for me. Tony Speciale (Unnatural Acts) directed. Running time: 1 hour 20 minutes; no intermission.

The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey ***

After a successful run downtown, James Lecesne’s one-man show has moved to the Westside Theatre for a limited run. Lecesne adapted the piece from his young adult novel about a flamboyant 14-year old boy in a Jersey shore town who goes missing. The story is told from the viewpoint of the hardboiled detective who worked the case 10 years ago. Lecesne skillfully transforms in the blink of an eye to the various townspeople the detective interviews in the course of the investigation. These include Leonard’s tough-as-nails guardian Helen, who operates “Hair Today”, the local salon; her teenage daughter Phoebe, whose life has been adversely affected by Leonard joining the household; the fey British expat who runs the local drama and dance school; a philosophically inclined mob widow; an old watchmaker with regrets about the way he treated his own son; one of Helen’s girlfriends; and a local bully named Travis. Not since the early work of Anna Deavere Smith have I seen a performer portray so many distinct characters with such apparent ease. Lecesne won an Oscar in 1995 for his short film Trevor and was a founder of The Trevor Project, a hotline for LGBT youth, so he is familiar with his material. My enthusiasm was slightly tempered by Lecesne’s tendency to give some of his characters too many easy laugh lines and by the dash of sentimentality at the end. I felt the performance was better than the material. Jo Winiarski’s minimalist set design is enhanced by Aaron Rhyne’s projections. Duncan Sheik wrote the unobtrusive music. Tony Speciale’s (Unnatural Acts) direction is uncluttered. Running time: 75 minutes.

Note: Picking a good seat downstairs at Westside Theatre is dicey. There are four pillars that obstruct the view from some seats. Rows B and C have no risers above Row A. Moving backward from there, only every other row is on a riser. None of this shows up on a seating map, so I suggest you book by phone and ask questions.

Unnatural Acts: Harvard's Secret Court of 1920 ***

I hope Ben Brantley's negative review won't dissuade anyone from seeing this worthwhile play at CSC, especially since all the other reviews were favorable. The story of Harvard's secret trial of students suspected of being "homosexualists" and its devastating consequences remained virtually unknown for 80 years, until a student on the Harvard Crimson discovered the locked file that contained handwritten transcripts of the trial and Harvard was forced to make the information available. The Plastic Theatre, a collective led by Tony Speciale, has a process similar to that of Moises Kaufman's Tectonic Theater group (The Laramie Project). The group of actors and writers spent two years on research, character development and improvisation workshops to create this play. The results are mostly excellent. The few weak moments are outweighed by several scenes that pack a tremendous wallop. It's a rare pleasure to see an ensemble of 11 actors on a New York stage these days. One interesting point is that the same actors play both the young men on trial and their judges. Reducing the number of characters would no doubt have made things easier for both the creators and the audience, but verissimilitude took precedence. The acting is mostly strong and the set, costumes and especially the lighting all contribute greatly to the success of the production. The cast includes Jess Burkle, Joe Curnutte, Frank De Julio, Roe Hartrampf, Roderick Hill, Max Jenkins, Brad Koed, Jerry Marsini, Devin Norik, Will Rogers and Nick Westrate. Running time: 2hours, 10 minutes including intermission. Note: There is brief nudity.