Monthly Archives: March 2015

The Audience

Broadway, Play, Uncategorized March 30, 2015 Leave a comment

The Audience, a play about Queen Elizabeth II talking with eight of her Prime Ministers, may not sound like compelling drama to many.  But when the script is written by Peter Morgan — who so brilliantly explored the relationship between her Majesty and Tony Blair in the Oscar nominated film The Queen — and the role of Elizabeth is once again in the immensely capable hands of Dame Helen Mirren, you are in for an enjoyable and enlightening evening.

If you don’t know your Anthony Eden from your Gordon Brown or your parliamentary procedure from a ham sandwich, there’s no need to panic.  The action is introduced and clarified by a droll Geoffrey Beevers as the Equerry.  Following his background information won’t secure an A in English history, but it’s enough to help you grasp the significance of the proceedings you are about to witness.  Mr. Morgan increases the level of engagement by laying out the events as they relate to one another rather than chronologically.  We come to understand how each relationship and experience enriches the others.

Ms. Mirren has obviously continued to study her subject (if one can use that phrase to describe royalty).  Her tone, body language and expressions are perfect reflections of Queen Elizabeth without actually being imitation. It is a delight to watch the masterful actress move silkily among ages ranging between 26 and 88, aided by director Stephen Daldry’s clever staging and Bob Crowley’s spot-on design.

The performances delivered by the assorted PMs are of less uniform quality.  Richard McCabe as Harold Wilson is a particular revelation, helped along by having the most layered dialogue.  Rufus Wright elegantly takes on David Cameron and, in a more recently added flash-back, Tony Blair.  Surprisingly, the usually wonderful Dylan Baker as John Major appears ill at ease and occasionally loses track of his accent, while the equally gifted Judith Ivey’s interpretation of Margaret Thatcher is crushed under a tsunami of wig and teeth.  It should be noted that I attended the last preview, so these rough edges may be smoothed out during the run.  Regardless, there are enough bright spots to increase the heartbeat of any anglophile and the appreciation level of the more casual viewer.

The Audience is scheduled to run through June 28 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater.  For tickets and information, visit http://theaudiencebroadway.com.

Between Riverside and Crazy

Off-Broadway, Play, Uncategorized March 20, 2015 Leave a comment

Stephen Adly Guirgis has an almost unmatched talent for writing dialogue.  From the inept burglars in Den of Thieves to the titular Motherf**ker with the Hat, his casts sound completely authentic even when what they are doing isn’t completely familiar.  Guirgis’s skill creating deep believable characters allows the audience to take a little trip inside a world that is simultaneously commonplace and new.

This gift is in evidence in his latest theatrical work, Between Riverside and Crazy, now playing at 2second Stage Theater after a run at the Atlantic Theater Company.  In this dark comedy, we visit with Walter “Pops” Washington — a former cop living in a large rent controlled apartment on Manhattan’s west side — and his extended family.  Like many tenants of these highly desirable and marketable dwellings, the landlord wants them out.  But Pop’s is protective of his territory and that of his unusual brood.  They include Pop’s biological son, Junior, recent ex-con and recovering alcoholic, Oswaldo, and Junior’s girlfriend and perpetual student, Lulu.

It quickly becomes clear that of the three, it is strikingly Junior who feels the most distant from the well meaning yet gruff retiree.  Just how these relationships formed is made clear without banging the viewer over the head. Wonderful details and insight are shared in almost every line from the opening moments at the kitchen table.  (You will never think of breakfast food in the same way again.)

As with Guirgis’s other creations, the play isn’t all talk.  Events pick up speed when Pops is paid a visit by his former partner and her fiancee.  What unfolds is a highly enjoyable combination of clever laughs and tragic food for thought.  Each emotional turn is perfectly enhanced by Walt Spangler’s literally turning set, which moves the players through space and time.  The action is reinforced by Austin Pendelton’s astute direction.  He knows just when to leisurely play out a moment and when to jump ahead.  His artistry is supported by a practiced cast lead by Stephen McKinley Henderson, who wears the role of Pops like a tailored suit that’s been slept in.

Between Riverside and Crazy is playing through March 22, 2015, in the Tony Kiser theater, 2econd Stage Midtown.  For tickets and information, visit http://2st.com/shows/current-production/between-riverside-and-crazy.

Verité

Off Off Broadway, Play, Uncategorized March 13, 2015 Leave a comment

Apparently Jo Darum — the lead character in Nick Jones’s satiric play Verité — is unfamiliar with the so-called “Chinese Curse”: May you live in interesting times.  After a rather unorthodox publishing house offers Jo $50,000 to pen her memoir, the housewife and mother decides she must start living a life worth writing about.  The results are by turns funny, unexpected and chilling.

In less assured hands, Jo’s surreal journey would be too preposterous to be engaging.  Thankfully the appealing Anna Camp’s experience includes turns in Pitch Perfect, True Blood and Equus, giving her all the tools necessary to make us connect emotionally with the play’s enthusiastic if naive heroine. Unfortunately, while some of the scenes crackle, the dialogue is too thin in places to fully support the bizarre premise.  At one point Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Winston, who may or may not have gone to high school with Jo,  is given a speech that resembles those dreadful scenes at the end of Perry Mason in which all is revealed in a Jamesian level of detail.  The woman next to me literally started snoring.

Director Moritz von Stuelpnagel’s skill is tested by the unusual dimensions of the Claire Tow stage.  The newest space at Lincoln Center is shallow and long, so those at the end of each row crane their necks while seeing too much of the actors’ backs.  Despite this challenge, Mr. Stuelpnagel and his cast deftly handle the rapid changes in tone.  Sharp pacing, terrific timing and clever sound cues are clearly in evidence.  Furthermore, the LCT3 is to be praised for offering this offbeat experience for $20 and bringing a diverse audience into their theater.

Verité runs through March 15 at the Claire Tow theater in Lincoln Center.  For tickets and information, visit http://www.lct.org/shows/verite/

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Broadway, Play, Uncategorized March 2, 2015 Leave a comment

If you don’t thoroughly enjoy yourself at The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, chances are good that you just don’t like plays.  The theatrical interpretation of the award-winning novel takes complete advantage of everything the medium has to offer.  Artful script.  Check.  Talented cast.  Check.  Clever staging.  Check.  Audience engagement.  Check.

Critics have raved about the lead performance of Alex Sharp who plays Christopher, the autistic teen through whom the story is told.  I can only imagine how brilliant he is since I  found Taylor Trensch — who takes the role at some performances — utterly enthralling.   On stage for the entirety of the show’s 145 minutes, Mr. Trensch is pitch perfect, skillfully knitting ritualistic movement and compulsive behavior in with his rapid fire dialogue.  I am generally not a fan of breaking the fourth wall, but I found his Christopher so enchanting I was happy to have him reach out to me directly on occasion.  The compassion and pride he inspires is critical to appreciating the production.

But Curious Incident is an ensemble piece and neither Trensch nor Sharp could succeed if they didn’t have such a strong supporting cast.  They not only play multiple roles but sometimes function as part of the scenery as well.  While everyone is top-notch, Mercedes Herrero in her Broadway debut deserves special mention for having the unenviable task of switching between two of the more outrageous characters, sometimes mere moments apart.

I also applaud the design team who have taken the black box concept to a whole new level.  Their combined use of lighting, video, movement and props convey Christopher’s viewpoint in a way that is as elegantly simple as it is brilliant.  I don’t want to give a single moment away, but I encourage you to let them finish what they start.

Tickets for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time at the Ethel Barrymore Theater are available at http://curiousonbroadway.com.  For those on a tighter budget, consider National Theater Live’s broadcast of the London production when it returns to these shores.  Bookmark http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/36297-the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time.