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[PORTO]

Off-Broadway, Play, Uncategorized March 1, 2018 Leave a comment

In the world of prose, square brackets are used primarily for clarification: adding explanation or making a small correction. In Porto’s world, [ ] is the near-constant narrator and commentator of all her thoughts and actions. We are told that [PORTO] is Porto’s story, though [ ] does much to steer the ship, to the point where the punctation sometimes has the upper hand. (That in literature square brackets are not supposed to alter the essential meaning of the original statement will likely only bother the most hardcore-ist of grammarians.)

Noel Joseph Allain, Julia Sirna-Frest, and Leah Karpel in [PORTO] — Photography by Maria Baranova

The piece opens with a long detailed description of how to make sausage, delivered in the dark by the off-stage [ ] in almost musical tones. For lovers of podcasts such as Selected Shorts, this introduction elevates ones senses. Indeed we are soon to witness the proverbial sausage making of relationships — complete with soft underbellies and the occasional metaphorical entrails — as the staff and patrons of a small Brooklyn bar repeatedly come together almost in ritual with [ ] serving as a combination priestess, narrator and stage manager. That she is portrayed by Kate Benson, the playwright, only adds depth to the role. She appears omniscient until one of the other characters clearly disobeys [ ]’s directive. From then on, all possibilities are open to our players. Indeed Porto is also counseled by two titans of feminism at her kitchen table as well as a pair of dumb bunnies of the Oryctolagus Cuniculus variety.

The audience for this production skews younger than at most off-Broadway houses. Jokes aimed at modern relationships and hipsters who embrace pickled vegetables and toasted garbanzos with their happy hour received the biggest laughs. The breaking of prescribed rules throughout Benson’s script is jarring for those who prefer that their fantasy come with understood guidelines. Some of the inconsistencies are merely puzzling. For example, the character of Hennepin drinks Hennepin ale, but Dry Sac drinks Vodka. It is, however, truer to the way life unfolds: what seems established can be easily invalidated.

The quality of the acting can be appreciated at any age. Julia Sirna-Frest imbues Porto with a realistic combination of determination and hesitancy with which many of today’s young women struggle. As her frequent companion at the bar, Leah Karpel’s Dry Sac delivers loopy 80 proof stories with amusing conviction. Jorge Cordova’s Hennepin is the perfect well-meaning Everyguy. Doug the Bartender is played with measured amounts of drollness by Noel Joseph Allain. Rounding out the cast is Ugo Chukwu who arguably steals the show as Raphael, the waiter with heart and sage advice.

Obie winning director Lee Sunday Evans makes the most of the small space and unconventional storytelling devices. The steadiness of her cast is a testament to her deep understanding of how to tell this story well. Kristen Robinson has replicated a bar setting with the actors in a straight line facing the audience. Porto’s apartment is displayed above, inside a cutout reminiscent of a cross-stitched sampler. This imaginative concept lends an ironic twist to the far-from-traditional-values exchanges that unfold there. Costumes designed by Asta Bennie Hostetter give the characters a lived-in look. Amith Chandrashaker’s lighting and Kate Marvin’s sound support sense of place and movement in a world in which people apparently do not need to open doors.

Whether you find [PORTO] a humorous work of art or say “alright already” like the man in front of me will very much depend on your enjoyment of intellectual play. What you will certainly come away with is an entertainment experience you won’t forget on the subway ride home. The production is presented by the WP Theater and The Bushwick Starr in association with New Georges. Tickets for performances through March 4, 2018 are available at WWW.WPTHEATER.ORG/TICKETS.

An open letter to the creative team of Some Old Black Man

Off-Broadway, Play, Uncategorized February 14, 2018 Leave a comment

SOBM I attended the performance of your play, Some Old Black Man, at 59E59 Theaters on Saturday, February 10. Co-star Roger Robinson was out sick, replaced by Phil McGlaston. I understand that Mr. Robinson has been with the production since the beginning and that it is your request that the show not be reviewed without him. Certainly I was disappointed not to see his turn as Donald, but it was a marvelous afternoon nonetheless. I wanted to take this opportunity to applaud your wonderful work in full view of my readers.

To playwright James Anthony Tyler: Congratulations on your script, the first to be fully staged by Berkshire Playwrights Lab. Your story cunningly explores relatable themes of aging and generational conflict using the distinct filter of race relations. Both characters are so beautifully drawn with just a few strokes of your proverbial pen. Father Donald may be cantankerous, but you have assured us that his concerns are clearly rooted in very real and hard experience. I too am an only child and live with an aging parent, so I found it easy to relate to so many of son Calvin’s frustrations. My Mom may not have a brightly colored afghan thrown over the back of our modern couch, but there are certainly parallels I could point to. Judging from the reaction of my fellow audience members, I was not alone. At so many turns, you blend stirring moments of vivid social and economic commentary with laughter and empathy.

To director Joe Cacaci and understudy Phil McGlaston: I admire how quickly you were able to get the piece moving again after Robinson took ill. It is not easy to emote while on book. McGlaston gave an exceptional performance for someone with only three solid days of rehearsal, navigating several of Donald’s tricky emotional turning points, not to mention delivering some terrific yogurt-oriented comedy.

To Co-Star Wendell Pierce: It was a joy to see someone whose television work I have long admired live on stage in such an intimate setting. There are aspects of Calvin’s dialogue that seem ready made for your expressive growl and trademark loving exasperation. Even when confronted with a co-star who couldn’t make much eye contact, you created a deep relationship. And when the set popped a few stitches, you managed to cover in character and earn yourself an extra smile from the audience.

To Roger Robinson: I wish you a speedy recovery. You have obviously laid some splendid groundwork here. I am sorry to have missed your interpretation.

I wish you all a wonderful run at 59E59 — and beyond.

Cathy Hammer, The Unforgettable Line

Broad Comedy

Off-Broadway, Revue, Uncategorized February 6, 2018 Leave a comment

There is a great deal of heart — and other select body parts — in Broad Comedy, the way way left of center review currently running on Mondays at the Soho Playhouse. If the concept of a senior talking vagina giving dating advice to a teenage model of the same makes you laugh, this one’s for you. The program is heavy on the sex jokes plus witty cultural observations and of-the-moment politics. It’s distinctly “blue” in both the moral definition and also in the sense that the work is definitely not for the ears of anyone who voted Republican in 2016.

Musical comic, actress, author, speaker, and social activist Katie Goodman stars, delivering a high octane series of sketches, songs, and musical bumpers co-written and directed by her husband, Soren Kisiel. Her chatty rapport with the audience is genuine and delightful. She is flanked by a talented all-female ensemble, which in New York consists of Danielle Cohn, Molly Kelleher, Tana Sirois and Carlita Victoria. All have big smiles, strong voices and perfect articulation. The acting is at an early student level, but this isn’t intended to be Ibsen.

BroadComedyNYC The lyrics rely heavily on the use of the F-word. There are also long asides recited over a single note in almost every song. These devices seem lazy given Goodman’s clear and strong opinions. Most non-musical sections bring a smile and several are big-laugh worthy. At a few intervals, Goodman asks the audience to participate, though mine was decidedly shy. Gags include the aforementioned wise vaginas and a team of uncooperative dancing boobs. Of the routines that stem from higher chakras, the right wing cheerleaders (pictured here) are among the most fully drawn. The modern twist on Vanilla Ice’s theme is genius. Another skit in which characters speak in Siri is just right. The only bit that fell completely flat featured two literal empty nesters who contemplate getting hooked on painkillers. This is one topic for which no amount of distance is enough.

The production values are stronger than one would expect in a stripped down vehicle. The show moves speedily, with the players making so many quick changes into cleverly designed costumes that at one point Katie had to check to make sure she was wearing a skirt. <She was.> The cute choreography is skillfully executed with the cast handily managing everything from baby carriages to guns. Only the scene changing soundtrack featuring Ariana Grande, Kay Boutilier and others of that ilk is ill-conceived given its glaring contrast to the style of the main event.

When you get tied of yelling along with Rachel Maddow, get out of the house and over to Broad Comedy. $35 tickets for performances Mondays at 7:30 are available now through March 26 and can be purchased at www.sohoplayhouse.com. After its current New York engagement, Broad Comedy will continue touring nationally, and at some stops will be raising money for feminist causes including Planned Parenthood. For more information on their ongoing adventures, please visit www.broadcomedy.com

The Chekhov Dreams

Off-Broadway, Play, Uncategorized February 3, 2018 Leave a comment

The lovers at the center of The Chekhov Dreams are an unusual pair. Kate is dead, having been killed in a car crash several years ago. Deeply depressed since the accident, the independently wealthy Jeremy has put his writing aside and spends his days asleep in order to visit her in his dreams. A frequent topic of conversation between them is the possibility he might end his life and join his beloved in the hereafter.

Tired of watching this sad cycle, brother Eddie — who has chosen to spend his money on the more traditional wine, women and song — elicits a promise that Jeremy will make an effort to get out and meet new people. A man of his word, Jeremy signs up for an acting class, thinking this exercise might have the benefit of expanding his relationship with the literature he loves almost as deeply as he does Kate. Instead, he and his scene partner Chrissy are assigned The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, a playwright Jeremy considers dreary and uninspiring.

Photo by Arin Sang-urai. L to R: ELIZABETH INGHRAM, DANA WATKINS, CHARLOTTE STOIBER

Playwright John McKinney ambitiously draws parallels between his characters, Chekhov’s Anna and Trigorin and Jeremy’s favorite fairytale, The Snow Queen. The results are uneven, punctuated by some imaginative moments. A few grimmer concepts are presented too off-handedly, which is jarring. But by the second act we’re more firmly in Blithe Spirit territory than anywhere near a Cherry Orchard. The broader comedy works fine while we remain in Jeremy’s mind and apartment, but when the action shifts back to the acting class, McKinney breaks his established rules of conduct and produces an uneasy mix of personal hallucination and the reality of others.

The small cast works comfortably together. The angular Dana Watkins provides Jeremy with an appropriately dreamy quality. As his scene partner and potential lifeline, Chrissy is given bubbly charm by Charlotte Stoiber. Christian Ryan channeling Jere Burns delivers the best zingers as Eddie. The toughest challenge is handed to Elizabeth Inghram who struggles to bring the not-always-likable Kate to “life”. Rounding out the team is Rik Walter as the time and realms-traveling Chekhov who fills in the blanks whenever Jeremy becomes too blind in grief.

Some of director Leslie Kincaid Burby’s staging is clever, particularly the dream sequences. The mood of these all important scenes is enhanced by Diana Duecker’s lighting and sound designed by the playwright himself. Burby is less successful when giving the actors “business”. The already rapid-fire dialogue gets punched up with distracting sight gags. Scott Aranow’s scenic design also doesn’t quite work. We are told that Jeremy inherited a great deal of money, but his furniture is inexplicably cheap and ratty. At times the walls actually wobble. It is clear from his ultra-casual wardrobe provided by costume designer Christina Giannini that Jeremy isn’t “spendy”, but he should at least honor basic building codes.

For all the talk of endless love and devotion for the ages, The Chekhov Dreams is more a diverting night out than a philosophical exercise. The thought-provoking questions raised don’t hold up to much reflection. Towards the end of the play, Eddie has a line that works as a wink to the audience, indicating McKinney knows that the ponderous moments won’t be sustained after the houselights come on. But really, what’s wrong with a little escape? Tickets for the production at The Beckett at Theatre Row are available through February 17 at https://www.chekhovdreams.com.

Cardinal

Off-Broadway, Play, Uncategorized January 30, 2018 Leave a comment

Second Stage Theater Cardinal By Greg Pierce Directed By Whorlsky Cast Beck Ann Baker Anna Chlumsky Alex Hurt Adam Pally Stephen Park Eugene Young Many of us have experience working with someone who’s a big picture dreamer. Unchecked by a healthy skeptic — much less an opponent with a better idea — they good-naturedly lead their team down a path to The Emoji Movie or Pets.com. Greg Pierce starts out telling one such story in Cardinal in which Lydia Lensky returns to her hometown with the wild idea of literally painting it red. With tremendous enthusiasm and few facts, she persuades the locals that this gimmick will attract tourism and new business.

It’s clear from the moments that click in this production that if Mr. Pierce had focused on developing this plot line and fully explored the themes of unintended consequences and shifting alliances, Cardinal might resonate. Towns around America are going through similar changes and struggling to find solutions. Instead of trusting there was enough to say on this important topic, the playwright tosses in sexual obsession, cultural bias, the working poor, and addiction. The final concoction is as tasty as the dish cooked up by Rachel Green in “The One Where Ross Got High.” (For non friends of Friends, the recipes for shepherds pie and trifle had stuck together.)

I can see how Lydia’s well-meaning messiness might be attractive to Anna Chlumsky, fresh off yet another Screen Actors Guild win for VEEP. The actress certainly pours energy into her attempt to create an emotional arc for a character that moves from A to B and then drifts back to A. It is helpful that her primary foil is brought to life by Adam Pally who is known for mining comedy gold. Sadly Pally’s timing cannot save their weightier exchanges from tumbling headlong into melodrama. Scenes between Becky Ann Baker and Alex Hurt as a small business owner and her mentally challenged son ring truer, but all too soon their storyline also hits a wall. Rounding out the characters, a Chinese businessman and his son portrayed by Stephen Park and Eugene Young are mostly offensive.

The behind the scenes team seems to have trouble keeping up with the scattered emotional beats and plot turns. Director Kate Whoriskey — who helped bring the astoundingly powerful Sweat to life — establishes a pattern of using the town’s worker-bees to ease scene transitions only to be confronted with sections where this ploy doesn’t fit the action. Derek McLane’s brick set may make location changes easier, but it too doesn’t consistently work to give us the proper sense of place. Some of the sound and light elements are cheesy. This may be intentional but in that case the artistic commitment isn’t strong enough.

Like many members of my profession, I believe it’s essential to fairly review those works that are not my cup of tea. However, there are some offerings that must be called out for simply “not working.” I attended Cardinal with five friends all of whom had a negative experience. (They tell me it’s the first time in 25 years they’ve had the same reaction to a night at the theater.) What did the good folks at 2nd Stage read that was lost along the way? Perhaps the creative team behind this world premiere was carried away by its own Lydia Lensky when it added the commissioned work to the season. Let me know what you think if you decide to purchase a ticket at https://2st.com/shows/current-production/cardinal.

The Children

Broadway, Play, Uncategorized December 29, 2017 Leave a comment

Perhaps it’s our collective mood that has brought on a slew of dystopian dramas. Certainly the catastrophe that prompts the events covered in Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children isn’t novel. The facts of “the accident” in question are based on those that actually transpired in Japan just a few years ago. What is fresh is the way in which Kirkwood all but ignores the usual condemnation of nuclear power and instead uses the localized event to explore bigger and more human issues including the responsibility of each generation to the next and what comprises a well-lived life. Then she sprinkles in enough humor and love in its many forms to prevent the discussion from becoming soul-crushing.

THE CHILDRENAmerican premiere by Lucy Kirkwood Directed by James Macdonald With Francesca Annis, Ron Cook, Deborah Findlay

Deborah Findlay and Ron Cook in The Children, Photo © Joan Marcus 2017

To be honest, if the invitation to this production had announced that Francesca Annis, Ron Cook, and Deborah Findlay were coming to town to read American Greetings cards at my local Duane Reade, I still would have bought a ticket. I know all three primarily from their television work (any other Reckless fans out there?) and wanted the opportunity to see them live. The quality of the acting did not disappoint. There is a lived-in feel to all three performances that is not only a delight to experience, but essential to making the story’s ending believable.

The character set-up is as deceptively simple as the situation. Annis’s Rose has come to see Findlay’s Hazel and Cook’s Robin, a couple of retired physicists with whom she worked over 30 years ago. These three supposed old friends obviously have serious catching up to do, and from the subtle undertones it’s clearly not just about Hazel and Robin’s biological children. It is slightly disappointing that the playwright cannot come up with anything more original than off-stage phone calls to get characters out of the room when necessary, but this can be overlooked given the overall strength of the writing and its interpretation by a seasoned cast.

The behind-the-scenes team is equally sophisticated and deft in their approach to the material. Director James Macdonald provides his talent with purposeful “business” that keeps the play from feeling talky while revealing subtleties about the characters. His job is made easier by a brilliant, askew set conceived by multiple award winner Miriam Buether. Buether also created the everywhere-and-nowhere costumes. Peter Mumford’s disquieting lighting and projection designs add just enough menace to the atmosphere to hint at what lies beyond the slightly claustrophobic kitchen that we see. The three players are confined, at least for the moment.

The Children is a play you simply cannot leave behind you. The questions it poses and feelings it prods are too profound and intertwined in our everyday practices. If that sounds enticing rather than overwhelming, get ye to The Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Tickets are on sale through February 4, 2018, at http://thechildrenbroadway.com.

A Deal

Off-Broadway, Play, Uncategorized November 21, 2017 Leave a comment

Internationally known playwright Zhu Yi has given New Yorkers a gift with A Deal, which opened at Urban Stages last night. On its surface, the piece tells the story of one Chinese family’s attempt to buy into the Manhattan real-estate market as a major step towards providing their daughter with the complete American Dream. But this rich work has multiple layers and is by turns wonderfully thought-provoking, deeply troubling and oddly funny.

Lydia Gaston, Wei-Yi Lin and Alan Ariano. Photo bu Ben Hider

Lydia Gaston, Wei-Yi Lin and Alan Ariano. Photo by Ben Hider

For most of its 100 minute runtime, the play follows two tracks. Li Su is a recent Columbia University MFA graduate vigorously pursing an acting career in New York City. Her chosen profession necessitates that she be judged by how she looks, which regrettably for Asian talent is usually limiting and consequently frustrating. Around the time of her first big break, her parents arrive from China. They are proud Communists who made a small fortune which they want to invest it in the USA. Early on in the plot, these two are reunited with Mrs. Li’s former beau Peter who has become an American citizen. This set-up provides Zhu Yi with ample opportunities to skillfully explore emotional conflicts stemming from stereotypes, ideology, and national pride. None of these people is particularly likable, but each is admirable for a different reason.

Like her character, Taiwanese actress Wei-Yi Lin is making her off-Broadway debut as Li Su. She is strident at times, though that may be a deliberate artistic decision meant to reinforce her alter-ego’s tenacity. Alan Ariano and Lydia Gaston bring depth and passion to their proud parental fishes out of water. Pun Bandhu— playing multiple parts here as he did in The Treasurer — provides Peter with equal parts sweetness and cunning. Seth Moore seems genuine as a writer, (perhaps because he is one.) Unfortunately Helen Coxe doesn’t provide enough distinction between her roles as a con artist, talk show host, receptionist and others causing slight confusion for those around me.

The entire creative team is strong and obviously united in their vision. Director John Giampietro makes remarkable use of the small stage, most admirably in a beautifully choreographed fight scene. The simple light-weight set by Frank J. Oliva is brought to vivid life by Ryan Belock’s exceptionally artful projections. Audrey Nauman gives each of the characters their perfect wrapping, from Mrs. Li’s coordinated suits to Su’s darling babydoll dresses.

A Deal is a delightful departure from the limited world view that sometimes plagues commercial theater. Zhu Yi is a fresh and intelligent voice well-matched to the mission of Urban Stages to promote writers of diverse backgrounds. Tickets (only $35 for full price) are available through December 10 at www.urbanstages.org. Intriguing talkback sessions follow the performance on November 27, November 30 and December 4. As an interesting side note, the piece delivered in Mandarin will simultaneously be touring throughout China. I greatly look forward to reading the reviews from there.

Jesus Hopped The “A” Train

Off-Broadway, Play, Uncategorized November 13, 2017 1 Comment

Stephen Adly Guirgis’s Jesus Hopped the “A” Train was first produced in New York in 2000. Its portrait of a criminal justice system that is short on justice and long on system easily transferred to London’s Donmar Warehouse and earned the playwright an Olivier Award. Shamefully, the predicaments the piece explores have only gotten worse, making the revival at the Signature as timely and poignant as ever.

Guirgis has a flare for language and exploring characters not often seen in commercial theater. Similar to his recent Between Riverside and Crazy, the people we get to know in these two plus hours are trapped by circumstances. In this piece, the playwright is able to draw on his expertise in violence prevention, taking a deep dive into what makes a criminal and what makes a crime. He relies a little over-much on exposition, but even that is vivid and intense.

Those of you plugged into New York’s performing arts news may already know that *both* leads in this production had to be replaced: one for scheduling issues and the other for health reasons. Though this meant extended creative tinkering for the supporting actors and director Mark Brokaw, Sean Carvajal as Angel and Edi Gathegi as Lucius have taken control of their roles body and soul. The cast changes left SAG winner (for Desperate Housewives) Ricardo Chivira as the best known name in the lineup. His Valdez is a tad mustache-twirly, but helps focus some of the angrier energy.

Jesus Hopped the A Train When I lived in San Francisco, I volunteered at a residential program for former felons. I realize this makes me more likely to respond to the plight of bright creative people who make terrible decisions and are helped along that path by a lack of education, support and resources. Judging from the emotional reaction of audience members around me, these characters are so beautifully detailed, their situation will draw you in just because you are human.

Brokaw keeps the staging minimal, appropriate for the prison lock-down wing where most of the action takes place. His focus is on well-paced dialogue delivery and appropriate physicality. We deeply feel along with the characters as much as we hear their tales unfold. It is slightly painful, yet wondrous.

The simple set by Riccardo Hernandez conveys a sense of confinement, while still giving the actors sufficient room for expression and interaction. Prison garb by Dede M. Ayite has tiny touches of individuality. Lighting by Scott Zielinski and sound by M. L. Dogg hint at what’s beyond the walls we see.

Whether you are a social justice advocate or a fan of emotionally moving drama, Guirgis’s work has something important to say. Due to the delays caused by the recasting and resulting extra rehearsal days as well as to the enthusiastic response of the audience since the run’s relaunch, this production of Jesus Hopped the “A” Train has been extended through December 3. The ticket price has been bumped from the regular $30 to the still-reasonable $55. They are available on the Signature Theater website, http://www.signaturetheatre.org/shows-and-events/Productions/2017-2018/Jesus-Hopped-the-A-Train.aspx.

Junk

Broadway, Play, Uncategorized November 3, 2017 Leave a comment

Photo by T. Charles Erickson

If you principally enjoyed the movie The Big Short but thought it had too much humor and heart, Junk might be the play for you. The ripped-from-the-headlines drama by Ayad Akhtar is a work of fiction illustrating the exploitative practice that blossomed in 1985 of making debt an asset. Akhtar’s dialogue is precise and natural and, when not bogged down by the essential vocabulary lesson, the 150 minutes pass swiftly. But the experience is rather like a tasty dish that’s been added to the buffet table after you’ve already loaded your plate three times. One only has to follow Twitter for five minutes to be reminded that the world is full of ultra wealthy predators. There simply isn’t room for any more in our collective bellies.

The quality of the acting throughout the piece is uniformly high. The large dynamic cast is led by suave Steven Pasquale. He’s silky smooth as power deal-maker and recent Time Magazine Cover Boy Robert Merkin. Merkin is in the process of orchestrating the take-over of a family owned steel company and has obviously misplaced his soul several hundred million dollars ago. He’s on a mission to reshape the world and won’t let anyone or anything dim his vision.

Having a cold-hearted manipulator at the center of the story would be thrilling if he weren’t surrounded by characters who are for the most part just as dislikable. There is the captivating Ito Aghayere as Jacqueline Blount, a woman whose only loyalty is to herself. Elegant Teresa Via Lim’s self-accepting Judy Chen who would fornicate with a dollar if she could figure out how. Even would-be white knight Leo Tresler played with bluster and a hint of insecurity by Michael Sieberry tramples all over his own code of ethics. Miriam Silverman is the closest thing you’ll find to a hero as she finds strength and avoids shrillness in the tricky role of Merkin’s wife Amy.

Director Doug Hughes does his usual brilliant job of bringing out the best in each performance and every beat. John Lee Beatty’s clever set of sliding platforms and illuminated doorways works well to define the space. However, the essential projections created by 59 Productions are hard to see from the sides of the three-quarter round theater. And the original music by Mark Bennett was sometimes so faint, it seemed to be seeping in from another room.

That “everything has a price” — including salvation — is not a new revelation. If somehow you have not had your fill of this theme, then seek out a ticket to this well played production at the Vivian Beaumont. Tickets for Junk are available at http://www.lct.org/shows/junk/ through January 7, 2018.

The Last Match

Off-Broadway, Play, Uncategorized October 25, 2017 Leave a comment

The Last Match Cast Wilson Bethel Tim Alex Mickiewicz Sergei Natalia Payne Galina Zoë Winters Mallory Creative Anna Ziegler Playwright Gaye Taylor Upchurch Director Tim Mackabee Set Designer Montana Blanco Costume Designer Bradley King Lightin If the notion of a twelfth deuce point doesn’t tie your body in knots of exasperation mixed with exhilaration, Anna Ziegler’s The Last Match may not be the play for you. The tightly woven story of two couples whose lives revolve around professional tennis relies heavily on having at least a basic understanding of the sport. For those who are fans, it makes for an engrossing 100 minutes.

To mention the scenic design so early in a review is usually not a good sign. But Tim Mackabee’s artistic rendering of the US Open is completely captivating and functions almost as a fifth character. All the world’s a court and the men and women merely players. The set pieces are accented by Bradley King’s mood-setting lighting which shifts from glaring spotlight to swirling night sky.

This splendid background does not distract from the terrific performances that take place in front of it. Alex Mickiewicz is a standout as Sergei Sergeyev, a man for whom every decision is a tough one. There is a captivating tautness to his tone and body language that is deeply honest and moving. As the All-American Tim Porter, former tennis player Wilson Bethel expresses the combination of anxiety and drive that propels many champions to reach the top. His wife Mallory is played by Zoë Winters with a dazzling mixture of tenderness and fortitude. The quartet is rounded out by Natalia Payne as Sergei’s tough as nails fiancé, Galina. Her pacing is perfection, but she misplaced her accent on several occasions, slipping from Russia to Queens. This was particularly odd given that Ms. Payne has been with the play since its world premiere at the Old Globe in San Diego.

The piece is still considered a new work and may continue to developed, but it is already clear that the storytelling is wonderfully nuanced. Though there is a huge rivalry at its center, there are no bad guys in this tale. We experience four realistic people just trying to do their best. Ziegler picks her moments well, telling the audience so much in every glimpse through a window into their lives. Director Gaye Taylor Upchurch manages to make scenes of tennis — effectively done in pantomime — and home life both past and present blend beautifully into four portraits that in turn become one.

While the tennis-as-life metaphor may limit the breadth of potential ticket-buyers, it really works. It is a sport that is at its best when opponents have a respectful understanding of one another. Each shot is the result of a decision, sometimes at an instinctive level. Performance can be easily be influenced by the reaction of outsiders in the crowd. And there’s weight to pondering how you will be remembered when it’s just not your day to win.

If you enjoy being caught up in the passions of others, The Last Match provides an immersive opportunity. It’s a worthy time investment, though I could understand those who left confused or even frustrated not knowing a let from a footfall. Tickets are available through December 24 at https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/Shows-Events/The-Last-Match.aspx.

The Unforgettable Line