The new comedy Merry Me has plenty going for it. The layered writing by Hanson Jung is packed with witty spins on pop culture and references to classicists from Euripides to Shakespeare all built around a structure most similar to a Restoration Comedy. The cast — everyone making a New York Theatre Workshop debut — is masterful. It would be easy to play up every clever note, which would also be exhausting. Instead the punches are delivered in slowly rising waves under the direction of the always excellent Leigh Silverman. It’s all quite attention getting and yet somehow lacks stickiness, which is not meant to be a sexy pun despite the prominence of bawdy humor in the dialogue.
The plot unfolds on the front lines of a war that has been paused by a well-known Angel (sassy Shaunette Renée Wilson). She introduces us to the interdependent characters as she and her cohorts manipulate their lives. There is Lieutenant Shane Horne (magnetic Esco Jouléy) who having seduced the General’s Wife (pixieish Cindy Cheung) is on a quest for her next “Merry.” Shane enlists the help of therapist Dr. Jess O’Nope (exuberant Marinda Anderson) to convince the rather dim General Memnon (David Ryan Smith with just the right amount of dopiness) that they are now heterosexual. Meanwhile the General’s equally dim son Private Willy (Ryan Spahn taking the hit for cis white men everywhere) has smuggled his beautiful new wife Sapph (Nicole Villamil managing an incredible balancing act between allure and innocence) onto the base. Bored out of her mind and her body, she dresses in “boy drag” in order to explore her surroundings and seek out Shane.
Playwright Jung pulls in references from Illyria to Wakanda with a hefty serving of Kushner and a soupçon of E.L. James. All of her characters are self aware and often speak in stage directions and subtext. The energy is that of an old-fashioned farce but the would-be cliches are almost literally turned on their heads. Having directed many productions in the NYTW space, Leigh takes actions that would typical be horizontal and stages them vertically with wonderful results. There is one tiny portable foley door that gets run in and out of, but for the most part that classic farcical piece is “performed” by a remarkable back wall designed by Rachel Hauck. The effects are fully achieved with the help of Barbara Samuels lighting and Caroline Eng and Kate Marvin’s sound design.
A combination of intellectual exercise and frank sexuality, unsurprisingly Merry Me is attracting an unusual blend of followers. The age range of the audience was fresh out of college to well into AARP membership. Faces represented the colors of the rainbow. And reactions spanned from gently bobbing heads to energetic fist pumping. Performances continue through November 19 at New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street. Runtime is 90 minutes with no intermission. Full priced tickets are $65. For more information visit https://www.nytw.org/show/merry-me/. There is room in this world for something different even if it isn’t enduring.
The Unforgettable Line 