At first glance, John S. Anastasi’s Pied-À-Terre appears to be just another version of an oft-repeated story. Jack, a middle-aged, financially successful lawyer, picks up Katie, a teen prostitute, and installs her in his New York City apartment away from his Connecticut-based family. The tale takes an alluring turn when instead of using Katie to indulge in a bit of fun on the side, Jack chooses to focus on the young girl’s educational and cultural development. Thereafter, we learn that despite her profession, Katie is a devout Christian, while Jack is a religious skeptic. We see their incongruous relationship progress in a series of flashback scenes while in the present Katie’s residence has been discovered by Jack’s newscaster wife, Julia, whose marriage to Jack has grief as one of its foundational pillars.
Having completed an Off-Broadway run in 2007 and notwithstanding an intriguing premise at its core, the play’s current production has some obvious strikes against it. The positive evolution of medical treatment and the shifting views on power dynamics between the genders have poorly aged some of the plot elements. And even in the TikTok age, the timeline of events strains credulity. Six months doesn’t seem long enough for even the most ambitious and clever of young women to undergo Katie’s transformation and yet it seems too long for Jack to keep up his deception.
Director Mitch Poulos, who has worked with Anastasi’s material on multiple occasions, has been put at a disadvantage by being saddled with the stodgy set constructed for the theater’s main occupant, The Perfect Crime. While this decision no doubt threw the producers a budget lifeline, the fixed doorway upstage right and downstage secretary desk dictate much of the staging. Moreover, the stuffy decor complete with 20” TV and squashed upright piano, is a tonal disaster in the critical “role” of a Greenwich Village co-op. There is also an on-going swapping of paintings on the mantelpiece which interrupts the flow with blackouts. It is unfortunate that Carlo Sabusap’s projections aren’t more creatively employed to modify the atmosphere.
Despite this stylistic misadventure, the cast of three is a reminder of the many talented individuals giving their all for intimate audiences in smaller houses across the city. Michelle Serje (Julia) and Macy McGrail (Katie), both graduates of the famed improv program Upright Citizens Brigade, deftly negotiate the hairpin turns in their dynamic, even when the script piles on superfluous melodramatic details at the 11th hour. The more seasoned Jordan Allen Bell has a warm Everyman quality that serves the character of Jack Davis well and helps ground some of the dialogue’s odder details.
With Pied-À-Terre, playwright Anastasi has captured what is intrisically interesting about people in relationship working their way towards a shared truth. And I appreciate The Theater Center’s General Manager Catherine Russell’s commitment to providing opportunities for the Off-Broadway community. But I question whether this earnest work — dedicated to the memory of the late Tony-Award-winner producer, Lauren Stevens — is the best fit for the mission. In the final analysis, Pied-À-Terre pulls on heartstrings and maybe a few purse strings rather than adding imaginatively to the breadth of the summer season.
Produced by 22Q Entertainment, the open-ended engagement of Pied-À-Terre continues in the Anne Bernstein Theater at The Theater Center, 210 West 50th Street on the 4th floor. Performances are Wednesdays at 2PM and Sundays at 5PM. The script contains profanity and descriptions of sexual situations. Running time is approximately 2 hours including a 10 minute intermission. Standard admission begins at $60.85 though less expensive options are available for assigned-by-the-box-office seats. Visit https://www.piedaterreplay.com/ for ticketing information.
The Unforgettable Line 