Disruption is the Cheetos Puffs of this summer’s theater season. It’s not exquisitely well-crafted or even particularly good, but it’s satisfying in its familiarity. Three close college friends and their wives — the type who frequently enjoyed a summer share on Martha’s Vineyard — find their lives and relationships (appropriately) disrupted when their even more successful tech-bro buddy, Nick, returns to New York ready to seduce them into investing in his latest company. While the gang may have common sense and realistic goals on their side, Nick has a sexy business partner and a wily algorithm on his. That’s an intriguing nugget that should deliver fresher insights and more meaningful outcomes, but at least it makes an entertaining nosh.
The scenic design by Zoë Hurwitz is the first indication that the AI is going to have the coolest role. The set resembles a giant LED-framed iPad with a floor that displays key images, words and phrases in video by Yana Biryükova. While unquestionably eye-catching, the shape often leaves the characters marching around in circles or sitting in the dark under Hersh Ellis’s direction. A cold and eery anti-stat control room along the north wall is only visible when lit from the inside (lighting by Reza Behjat).
At first blush, it’s difficult to become emotionally invested in a group of well-off professionals whose challenges range from getting their kids into the right private school to purchasing a large enough Brooklyn brownstone. But the extraordinarily adept cast elevates Andrew Stein’s thin script to a high enough point that when a real calamity (thankfully?) makes an entrance, the audience audibly gasps in anguish. The actors’ salvaging of this otherwise pedestrian work makes the treatment of their credits all the more shameful. I’ve accepted (to a point) the dispensing of a QR code just before a request to turn off my phone. It’s a practice that began post-pandemic when no one wanted to touch icky paper and somehow persisted in the name of trees. But I’m genuinely shocked that Equity agreed to the play’s official website omitting links to hard earned biographical information. What exactly is that meant to preserve besides anonymity?
photo by Emilio Madrid
The first members of the circle that we meet are Ben (Conrad Ricamora of Oh, Mary! and Here Lies Love) and his wife Suzie (Shaunette Renée Wilson, Fox’s The Resident and NYTW’s Merry Me). He gives a chalk outline genuine warmth and a smile that seems to radiate from his soul while she purrs through single syllable words like a lioness eyeing her prey. Irene Sofia Lucio (Liberation, Slave Play) and Elizabeth Stanley (Jagged Little Pill) play competitive sisters Mia and Jill with such genuine affection for their characters you’ll want to go bake cookies with them. Joe Tippett’s (Waitress) sense of rhythm makes Jill’s husband Paul’s trite jokes seem hilarious and infuses the most mundane of issues with an air of melancholy. In Mia’s household, Jason Ralph (Peter and the Starcatcher) lends just enough “aw shucks” to conflicted surgeon Barry to appear vulnerable. Nick’s increasingly heinous behavior is propelled forward purely by means of John David Washington’s (The Piano Lesson) manner and bearing while his partner, the aptly named Raven, is given some feeling by Emma Kikue’s (My Man Kono) interpretation.
Disruption is empty calories dressed up as a fancy meal. But don’t you sometimes enjoy that airy crunch? Performances run through October 4 at The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 W 42nd Street. (Disruption is not a production of Signature Theatre as is stated plainly in dark grey on the black postcard given out at the door.) Runtime is closer to 2 ½ hours including intermission than the 2 hour published time frame, so watch those parking meters. Tickets start at $69 for balcony seats and can be purchased at https://www.disruptionplay.com/ or through the TodayTix app. Arrive early and enjoy a theme cocktail in the lounge. Seating is on either side of a slightly elevated stage, and this will guarantee you can get to your chair without… disruption.
Dropping Gumballs on Luke Wilson
On a soundstage, a talented production team is preparing to shoot an AT&T commercial featuring beloved Luke Wilson. The creative concept is to drop red gumballs around the star to symbolize all of Verizon’s dropped calls. Despite a lack of time to test the hastily put-together rig, prop lead Rob is able to toss the small projectiles just shy of Luke’s shoulder and the first few takes go smoothly. Then a case of nerves sets in and a few of the hard objects hit Luke squarely on the head. The actor sees stars; the director —award-winning documentarian Errol Morris — sees excitement and orders the crew to deliberately aim for the performer on the next take.
This is the set-up of the aptly named Dropping Gumballs on Luke Wilson, which is based on true events. Though the Directors Guild of America takes set safety very seriously, sadly there are occasional incidents of a director demanding a dangerous shot, as happened in this case. Rob Ackerman accurately has commercial Assistant Director, Alice, threaten to report Morris to the Guild. The script also provides enough background to realistically make her vulnerable to manipulation. It’s a creative stand-in for any project on which a concerned would-be whistleblower has instead been made complicit through intimidation. If only the playwright had trusted his audience to get his very clear and impactful message. Instead, after a lively and thought-provoking 55 minutes, he burdens the additional 20 with outright lectures on broader issues and political topics ranging from gender discrimination to Nazis. It’s an unnecessary departure from the previous territory that mars an otherwise engaging production.
First time director, famed playwright Theresa Rebeck, does an imaginative job of bringing us deep inside the physical set of the commercial and the mind set of each participant. The results are visually stimulating and often laugh-out-loud funny. The assorted screens that are employed by Morris for playback at the shoot are also used to show us the crew’s previous experiences that have brought them to this critical moment. (Yana Birkukova provides the ideal video design.) The nearly all-white set designed by Christopher and Justin Swader shows off these projections to great effect. Emphasis is achieved by Mary Ellen Stebbin’s well-placed lighting, which often shifts to a befitting green-screen green. The look is completed by the essential craft service table. Costumes designed by Tricia Barsamian will make any production pro feel right at home. All-important clever props are provided by Addison Heeren.
The Cast of Dropping Gumballs on Luke Wilson; Photo by Carol Rosegg
As a former prop person, Rob Ackerman makes the prop man, also named Rob, his spokesperson. George Hampe does a fabulous job of growing increasingly manic as character Rob struggles to remain the voice of reason and the closest thing we get to a hero. With a get-on-with-it gruffness, Dean Nolen is well cast as his boss and seasoned rigger, Ken. Reyna De Courcy is less successful at maintaining an appropriate emotional build in the role of their assistant, Jenny, becoming akin to a cartoon character with jerky motions and high-pitched yelps of displeasure. With enough charm and swagger, Jonathan Sale could easily be Luke Wilson’s deliberately pudgy body double. It’s less easy to know how well David Wohl impersonates Errol Morris. The part is written in one obnoxious note, though the theater vet certainly manifests a typical ego-driven artist. In the toughest role, Ann Harada swings rightly between assuredness and fear as Alice, but she struggles to differentiate the other small parts she takes on in memory and flashback.
Ackerman’s love of television production and those who strive to keep it creative and truthful shines through despite a dip in the ending. It is easy to see why both Luke Wilson and Errol Morris have given the project their blessing. With a little reworking of the last section, Dropping Gumballs on Luke Wilson has the makings of insightful modern satire. Running time is 75 minutes with no intermission. It plays through July 6, 2019, in the Mezzanine Theater at at A.R.T./ New York Theatre (502 W. 53rd Street). Tickets are $25 for union card holders, $30 general admission and $40 for reserved seating. For purchasing and additional information, visit TheWorkingTheater.org or call the Box Office (Ovationtix) at 866.811.4111.