All New People

 Zack Braff's new play, All New People, feels more like an episode of Scrubs than an evening in the theatre.   Don't get me wrong - it was pretty good - certainly well acted - but the comedy reminded me something for a TV set rather than a stage.  

The substance of the play is a nicely packaged story about an air traffic controller interrupted in the act of killing himself in a beach house during the sparsely populated winter season on Long Beach Island, New Jersey.

Braff certainly has an ear for comedy, but I'm thinking it's misplaced on the stage.  With the introduction (or perhaps i should say abrupt interruptions) of movie-quality back story video projected on a large white wall, Braff and director, Peter DuBois, confuse you.  The scenes were not just video clips.  They were actual scenes in the play - indispensable to the story.  Seemed to me like the entire play could have been packaged up for a movie.  And for the record, I wouldn't be surprised it it's not already been optioned.

If this sounds cool to you, I recommend you see it.  It's entertaining.  And for actors, he's got a decent lineup.   The adorable Justin Bartha (Charlie), the off-beat David Wilson Barnes (Myron), the hysterically quirky Anna Camp (Kim) and brilliantly dizzy Krysten Ritter (Emma) are entertaining, wacky, and lovable all rolled up in one.

Sitcom or drama - you decide, but just know you're paying a tad bit more than you would for a movie.  You'll have to decide for yourself if the price differential is worth it.

Equus

Peter Shaffer's homo-erotic play about a young boy raised in a house filled with religious fundamentalism and working class anger who blinds 6 horses made it's debut on Broadway this past week.  Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and Richard Griffiths (History Boys) headline.  Kate Mulgrew (Tea at Five, Our Leading Lady, Star Trek), CarolynMcCormik (Private Lives) and T.Ryder Smith (Dead Man's Cell Phone) are among the stand outs in the supporting cast.  

Martin Dysart (Griffiths), an aging psychiatrist attempts to get to the core issues behind why Alan Strang (Radcliffe) has blinded 6 horses in a stable in a small town.  At first blush, a horrific act, however the story unwinds itself to reveal a young man caught up in religion, loneliness, sexual attraction, and a very sad, yet plausible explanation to the tragedy.  

In the course of the story, we learn that the aging Dysart may indeed be battling his own version of these devils.  Are any of us exempt?  Are we all secretly jealous of those who take the reigns of life? Even if those reigns lead us down a path to hell?  Perhaps Marx had it right. Religion may just be the opiate of the people.

Griffiths and and Radcliffe are aided by remarkable sound, well designed and executed lighting and smoke on the stage - not to mention the very physically fit boys who play the horses.  The horse heads are a clever trick but it was the actors behind those heads executing the subtle horse movements brought their grandeur to life.

Well worth a full price ticket to see this show.  Run, don't walk.  

The Scene

Theresa Rebeck, the playwright, seems to have a few issues she'd like us to know about. And boy, did Tony Shalhoub, Patricia Heaton, Anna Camp, and Christopher Evan Welch show us what they were!

In an unusual treat of elaborate sets (not the norm for 2ndStage), the cast presented us peek into the lives of one married NYC couple (Tony and Patricia as Charlie and Stella), their NYC friend (Evan as Lewis) and an interloper from Ohio (Anna as Clea).

The scene, as it were, is supposed to represent the "social" scene. These folks seem to be in TV and movies - Charlie is an actor and Stella is a booking agent for an undisclosed, yet quite familiar afternoon or morning substance-less talk show. They talk about friends who has made it big and all the "Hollywood-esque" behavior that you would imagine might follow suit (the unseen friend, Nick, is the primary object of their angst).

Charlie and Stella are not exactly happy people - and into their lives strolls Clea, the sexy, young, blond from Ohio. She's dumb (isn't everyone the mid-west?). Tony's character is struggling both professionally and emotionally (mid-life straight male stuff). What follows suit is not a happy scene for any of them.

The 2 hour and 30 minute performance will probably get trimmed down close to 2 hours once they get the lighting queues crisper, the scenery changes quicker, and the director takes his knife to the dialogue and executes some precision cuts.

Check out "Monk" and "Debra Barone" do something totally different than what you know them from on TV. It's worth the off-Broadway ticket price of $50!