The Other Place

Laurie Metcalf has some experience playing a bitch and she continues to execute this persona quite well as Juliana in Sharr White's new work entitled The Other Place.  The work is intended to be presented in a rapid fire, intentionally disjointed pastiche of monologue and dialogue  - revealing a story of mental capacity juxtaposed with mental disease.  Juliana jumps from fluidly explaining the immediate hours and activities before her incident to sometimes confused and blurred dialogue and background scenes with her husband, daughter, and doctor - all of which lead to an ending you would never suspect when the lights first go down.  Sharr's work is compelling, purposeful and extremely clever.

In a psychological thriller of a play such as this, the impact is mainly felt through the rapid fire changes, the lighting, and sound, as well as the abilities of the actors to decisively jump between the various vignettes.   The Lortel Theatre is notoriously a dump of a theatre and I found myself wondering how it might come off in a more well equipped theatre.  The play is ostensibly Ms. Metcalf's to sell and while she does an admirable job, the supporting cast left me wanting more.  Most notably, her doctor (Aya Cash) is played by the same actor as her daughter (and also the resident of her prior home of Cape Cod).  I'm not exactly clear why someone would think an accomplished neurologist would be so young.  Her husband, Ian (Dennis Boustikaris) aptly covers the required ground, but the role, while at times emotional, lacks clear definition.

A compelling story, a fine acting job by Ms. Metcalf worth plenty more than the price of an off-Broadway ticket, nonetheless, The Other Place, left me wondering how much better it could be - and in another place.  Should there be chatter of a Broadway run next fall or spring, once again under Joe Mantello's direction, I'd be calling in my ticket order today.

Three Changes

This Nicky Silver play is darkly funny, at times eerie, and overall a strange brew of ideas over at Playwrights Horizons.   It seems that family is the main focus of the playwright and a twisted tale sure does unwind.  

Dylan McDermott (Nate) and Maura Tierney (Laurel) are the main characters who at the beginning, live what appears to be a normal, upper middle class married life on the Upper West Side.  Along co

mes Scott Cohen (Hal), the long lost brother, and his boy-toy hustler, Brian J. Smith (Gordon) and the entire family unit as we see it begins to unravel before our eyes (um, i have to comment once again at how gorgeous Brian J Smith really is - clothes on or off it doesn't matter!)  We immediately find out that Nate is having an affair with Steffi (Aya Cash) and it all goes to hell in a hand-basket from there.

Odd theatrical tricks are employed (very strangely) mostly by Steffi.  We see the cast break the 4th wall upon occasion to narrate the end of a scene or tell the rest of the story to the audience. Was it touching or weird?  Can't be sure.   

In the end, the entire intent of the show was a commentary on how far people go when it comes to family.  In this case, absurdly far.  I won't ruin it for you.  If you do go - you'll probably walk out with a feeling that you #1, have to think some more, and #2 are slightly annoyed that you sat thru the entire play and got the ending you did.

From Up Here

Liz Flahive has penned a darkly funny, brutally honest, and shockingly common-place new work now unfolding on Stage I at the Manhattan Theater Club. From up Here tells the "everyday" tale of what might be considered the "normal" American family today.

And by "normal", I mean a family that has a slightly neurotic and frazzled working mom; a step-father who has no real career and can't seem to "find" himself; a daughter who is having sex with all the boys in high school; an aunt who basically ran away from life and enjoys climbing mountains and living like a backpacker. and last, but not least, a son who has done something wrong at high school - and by wrong i mean really wrong - and now has to live with the significant consequences of his actions. All normal, right?

Also, it's not really surprising that the setting is listed as "The Suburban Midwest", although these days, that could read "Anytown, USA. What Liz Flahive and director, Leigh Silverman, have done here is to skewer the "typical" American family and lay it bare for all to see.

No spoilers here - I won't tell you what Kenny has done. But it is OK for me to tell you that Tobias Segal (Equuis, Doris to Darleen) is a young, rising star to watch very closely. He's mastered the art of the troubled and disenchanted youth and he's given possibly the best performance of his career thus far. Tony award winner, Julie White aptly plays Grace, Kenny's mom. She's got a whole host of problems unto herself and now must deal with Kenny's new problem and its far reaching consequences.

Playing now thru June 22nd, come to The City Center and catch this new, smart work.