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Photo by Don Kellogg

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Scarcity

Lucy Thurber has penned a powerhouse - now on stage at the Atlantic Theater Company. Scarcity is the story of intense frustration and struggle. Struggle with family, choices, poverty and alcohol. Frustration over how our position in life is affected by those choices- and the struggle to escape and the collateral damage left behind.


The poor family has a smart kid - who takes advantage of an over-attentive teacher to "get out" from under his alcoholic father and ocassionally delusional mother. Kristin Johnston (3rd Rock from the Sun) and Michael T Weiss (The Pretender) preside over the sad family and mom and dad. I saw Brandon Espinoza (u/s) as the young man at the center of all the energy and Meredith Brandt making her off-Broadway debut (at age 11) as the youngest member of the family - who in many ways was the smartest - - and certainly the most vulnerable.

The family dynamic might remind us of the television show Roseann - the twisted ways that love weaves into these families. The hope offered by escape. The sadness at the situation, and the despair of the young ones left behind.

You might not leave with a smile on your face - but you will certainly enjoy a powerful evening of theater.