Monthly Archives: February 2016

Dead Dog Park

Off-Broadway, Play, Uncategorized February 23, 2016 Leave a comment

Dead Dog Park opens moments after a black 13-year-old has tumbled from a fourth floor window.  Did he fall as the white police officer who was with him suggests?  Or was he pushed as the youth’s mother and others suspect?  This critical question is examined over the course of the next 70 minutes with dramatic and traumatic results.

During this time, we as audience members have multiple opportunities to weigh our own prejudices.  Is one life ever more worthy than another?  And if so, what tips the scales for each of us?  As with the many true life cases we have seen in recent headlines, no matter what happens there are no real winners.  A boy will still be critically injured, a hard-working policeman’s life will remain in ruins and two families will never be the same.

Barry Malawaer’s script keeps the storyline tight.  Tom O’Keefe imbues policeman Rob McDonald with a powerful range of emotion that fittingly never settles for too long.  As the boy’s mother, Eboni Flowers strongly plays both offense and defense in equal measure.  Lawyer John Jones is given a quick tongue and worldly wisdom by Ryan Quinn.  The weak link is Susannah Millionzi as McDonald’s wife Angela, though it’s hard to say whether the role or the actress is at fault.

BEDLAM productions, which brings this work to 59E59, specializes in the utilization of raw, flexible space.  Director Eric Tucker nods to the black box by having his cast occupy the stage simultaneously with different players defining the scene as the precinct, the policemen’s home, a lawyer’s office and a court room. While artistically interesting, this technique often forced the actors to be positioned at odd angles to one another. Without the proper eye contact, they didn’t appear to be listening to one another and therefore couldn’t react as deeply as I felt was necessary.

This is the second play about racism that I have seen in a short span.  Here this theme is spoken of less directly than in Smart People.  In many ways that makes this piece more honest and powerful since the subject tends to be more of a subtle undercurrent in our daily encounters.  If you appreciate having your own standards on the subject tested, spend some time in Dead Dog Park.

Dead Dog Park is presented in association with BEDLAM at 59E59 Street Theaters through March 6.  Visit http://www.59e59.org/moreinfo.php?showid=232 for tickets and information.

Noises Off

Broadway, Play, Uncategorized February 13, 2016 Leave a comment

This my third time seeing Michael Frayn’s Noises Off, considered by many to be the perfect comedy.  My first encounter with this piece of zaniness was in the early 1980s on London’s West End.  I laughed so much I couldn’t catch my breath.  Years later I could still quote lines.  Since then, the play has had an award winning run on Broadway with a cast headed up by the terrific Dorothy Louden.  It was also made into a considerably-less memorable movie with Carol Burnett.  Now it has returned to the Great White Way with an ensemble that includes Andrea Martin, Campbell Scott, Tracee Chimo, Daniel Davis, David Furr, Kate Jennings Grant, Megan Hilty, Rob McClure and (my cousin) Jeremy Shamos.  The script has been altered somewhat and it feels a little longer, but it remains a funny lighthearted event, perfect for these stressful times.

The story is structured as a farce within a farce.  The actors mentioned above star as the cast and crew of the touring company of Nothing On.  Audience members would do well to read the yellow program within a program for important backstory and a few additional giggles.  For example, it becomes clear that the reason Ms. Hilty’s Brooke Ashton as Vicki keeps mouthing all the words of her co-stars is that she’s never played a part with lines before.  We also learn that several of these people worked together in a long running television series, which explains their remarkable familiarity with one another.

But the joy of a first-rate physical comedy like this is that you don’t have to know anything in particular, except maybe the properties of gravity.  That’s why Act II — which of the three relies most on slight of hand, gestures and easily misinterpreted silhouettes — is by far the strongest.  The actors are astonishingly in tune throughout and provide hilarious points that a child could understand.  (In fact, three groups of school children had thoroughly enjoyed themselves at the matinee the day of my attendance.)  Credit should be given to director Jeremy Herrin and stunt coordinator Lorenzo Pisoni for the orchestration of these fabulous moments.

As Dotty Otley, the always-excellent Andrea Martin seems to be having a blast.  Her timing is impeccable and her shifts from hapless housekeeper to the frazzled leading actress who portrays her are brilliant.  David Furr manages to deliver his character’s many drifting lines with subtle difference that keeps him from being one-note.  (Ms. Hilty could take a lesson here.)  Kate Jennings Grant provides a centering influence as the closest thing to a straight man in this circus.  Jeremy Shamos is spot-on as usual.  (See you at Thanksgiving, Jer.)  The surprising weak link is Tracee Chimo as overwhelmed stage manager Poppy Norton-Taylor.  She tries to be farcical, which is one layer too many.  Like an improv that starts with an unbelievable premise, her performance quickly becomes forced and simply not funny.

The Roundabout Theatre Company’s Noises Off is playing at the American Airlines Theater through March 13, 2016.  Given the amount of energy required by the cast, it will remain a limited run.  If you are in the mood for some high-spirited fun, it’s the perfect choice.  Visit http://www.roundabouttheatre.org for tickets and information.

Smart People

Off-Broadway, Play, Uncategorized February 8, 2016 Leave a comment

All I really want to say about Lydia R. Diamond’s Smart People is that it lives up to its title in every possible respect.  That one sentence would tell you everything you need to know in order to decide whether it’s for you without risking the possibility of my spoiling a single moment of your experience.  But for those of you who require a lengthier review, here is a little more detail.

A fascinating and compelling piece about race, the action is set around Harvard University in 2008.  Perspective on this always hot topic is provided by a white professor, an Asian psychologist, and two African Americans: a doctor and an actress.  It would be easy to draw on stereotypes, but Ms. Diamond doesn’t fall into that trap.  The foursome is keenly aware of the role race is playing in their lives even while they strive to lead color-blind lives.  Using the period leading up to Obama’s first election adds an interesting twist.  From the vantage point of 2016, we know that America was ready to elect a black president.  But we also must acknowledge that amazing step did not erase racism from our culture; Ferguson, Flint and fluffy white Oscars happened anyway.

I was initially drawn to this production because of the cast: Mahershala Ali (House of Cards), Joshua Jackson (The Affair, Fringe and, yes, Pacey from Dawson’s Creek), Anne Son (My Generation) and Tessa Thompson (Dear White People, Creed).  They are all in top form, giving variation, humor and dramatic timing to the dialogue-heavy script.  All are tasked at key moments to deliver emotional scenes with an unseen partner and all are more than up to the challenge.  But they are even better when working together.  Their chemistry grew throughout the performance and I greatly enjoyed being in their company.  Extra praise should be given to Mr. Jackson who had to accomplish all of this while being hit with the occasional distracting “woo-hoo” from the audience.

Credit for the flow must be shared with the production team.  Kenny Leon – who previously collaborated with Ms. Diamond on Stick Fly – taps into the glimpses of each backstory and gives his characters wonderful nuance and texture.  Scenic Designer Riccardo Hernandez uses Zachary G. Borovay’s projections and simple modular pieces to move us rapidly from one location to the next.  And Zane Mark adds some atmospheric spice with his original music.

Smart People is playing at the Second Stage’s midtown venue (which is suitably staffed with smart people.)  The limited engagement must end March 6, 2016.  For tickets and information visit http://2st.com/shows/current-production/smart-people.