In Spare Parts, a well-meaning Columbia University Assistant Professor and a dedicated graduate student are studying the aging process; experimenting with possibilities for slowing or reversing it. As with many such studies, they have received a government grant and had success with lower organisms. But a potential billionaire investor is ready to skip all the usual precautions and move straight on to a human subject: HIM. He’s 64 with high blood pressure and simply doesn’t have the patience or the NEED to wait. Along with his younger and more emotionally intelligent assistant, he has summoned the academics in hopes that his money will move them along.
The concept is sadly timely, with Peter Thiel, Jeff Bezos, and Sam Altman among those eagerly backing anti-aging ventures. Playwright David J. Glass is a medical professional and has drawn on his first-hand experience at both a biotech company and Playwrights Horizons to forge a unique narrative path. The result is a wild blend of life questions. While the probing of ethics is enticing — especially during our period of deception — it is the exploration of the purely human realm that gives this play heart. There are a few places in the script where the storytelling is a touch inelegant, but for the most part it’s impressively paced given that this is a 95 minute play and not a three-part mini.
While the content vibrates with originality and intrigue, the direction by Michael Herwitz erodes the impact. Actors are sometimes stretched out across the long, shallow space, diminishing the electricity between characters. Worse is in the unimaginative and downright confusing set by designer Scott Penner. Various locations slosh around on top of one another without so much as a color shift in Zack Lobel’s serviceable lighting to differentiate the location. My I-Give-Up moment with the staging occurred when the the walls became doors thanks to PVC strips that flap upstage. The thumping original synth music by Ryan Gamblin overwhelms his futuristic soundscape.
Fortunately the cast more than holds up their end of selling the story. While the draw is frequent award nominee Rob McClure, his talent outweighs the needs of Professor Coffey. Similar to their characters’ dynamics, he is outshone by Matt Walker in a delicious layer cake of a performance as assistant Jeffrey Jordan. Perhaps it is Walker’s actual Ph.D. in genetics from Columbia University that makes him appear so comfortable while embodying such an awkward personage. As billionaire Zeit Smith, Michael Genet understands how to portray a character with troubling intentions without stepping over the line into melodrama. Most admirable is Jonny-James Kajoba’s turn as Ivan Shelley, Zeit’s faithful protégé. (How I wish I’d seen his Lady Bracknell!)
Spare Parts is certainly not easy to peg, which makes it exciting even for frequent theater attendees. Whatever discomposure is brought on by the indecent proposal is more than offset by the satisfaction of an unexpected journey. The limited engagement of this comedy/drama/mystery/horror show continues through April 16 in Theatre Three in Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street. Prices range from $39 “cheap seats” to $129 for the premium section. There is little rake in the first four rows followed by sufficient rise, along with better than average leg room throughout the house. Visit https://www.sparepartsplay.com/ for more information.
The Unforgettable Line 