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Photo by Don Kellogg

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Boys' Life

Boys growing up and the challenges they face in becoming responsible adults.  Life is tough and you find out how many different problems there can be and how much responsibility being an adult really requires.  I saw an Off-Off-Broadway production of this show at the Spoon Theatre exactly 1 year ago - See 2007 Review

I have to say the quality in this 2nd Stage production show was

bit better than the black-box theatre I saw this in before, but not by much.  The annoying "trailer-park" cut-away sets were distracting and seemingly built by a spatially  challenged set designer (Mark Wendland).  They were too big for the stage - and hence, annoyingly jockeyed around the stage with every scene.   OK, but was the acting any better?  About the same actually.  These guys were above average - all things considered.   Jason Biggs (The Graduate), Rhys Coiro (Dinner at Eight), and Peter Scanavino (SubUrbia, Shining City) aptly take the helm as "the boys".   


Besides the annoying sets, I also did not enjoy the fact that much of the guts of the play have been chopped out, holding true to the 90 Minutes - no intermission recipe.  In this case, unsuccessful, if you ask me.  So much was chopped out, (and if you saw the full play before) you would notice several unanswered questions and "left hanging" story lines.   

Overall, I believe the problem with the sets and the script chopping is the fault of the director.  The actors get an "A" while the director gets an "F".  Sadly disappointed in this production but still enjoyed the performances.   Biggs, Coiro, and Scanavino are all adorable, believable, and true to the words on the page.