Me, Myself and I

Albee's new work (2007) is certainly a highbrow, maybe a little too much actually.  Such an interesting (read, strange) way to convey a message about twins and how they struggle to find their own identities - Create a farcical family, turn up the weird factor, break (read, completely disregard) the 4th wall, and paint the sparse stage mostly gray.  Certainly unique, I'll give him that.

OTTO (Zachary Booth) and otto (Preston Sadleir), as they are named by their crazy mother, (Elizabeth Ashley), are identical (and very cute, by the way) twins.  OTTO decides that otto no longer exists and that he is going to China to become Chinese.  And that is just about all there is to the plot -  A twin who is essentially "acting out" about his identity along with a mother you think is a loony bird and possibly the reason these two kids are so messed up.   Brian Murray, the mother's live-in "crazy doctor" is a bright spot throughout the entire show with his comedic genius, impeccable timing and reaction.

The talent in this show abounds, actually. I expected a lot, and got a fair amount from Ashley and Murray I must say - but the material seemed to tie one if not two hands behind everyones' proverbial backs.  If the story wasn't strange enough, perhaps the continued direct dialogue with the audience is what did whole thing in.

On a final note, I hope I have not made any grammatical errors in this post.  It seems along with the saga of the twins' identities, Albee has issues with bad grammar too.

Two Unrelated Plays

Colder Than Here

A woman with cancer who plans her own funeral. Sounds a bit odd, doesn't it? But in the context of a loving, yet quite dysfunctional and quirky family - perhaps not.

Judith Light gave a magnificent performance as Myra - the "rock" of a mother stricken with Bone cancer given just 6-9 months to live - But despite that bad new, she continues to interject humor, wit, and helps the family learn how to become the "glue" that she always was to them. The supporting cast - two polar opposite daughters (Sarah Paulson - Laura in "The Glass Menagerie" and Lily Rabe - Anelle from Steel Magnolias") and a curmudgeon of a husband - a veritable potpourri of talented and witty dysfunction themselves - did a remarkable job at "not dealing with" and "dealing with" the impending death. Poignant, Tender, yet plenty of laughter thru the tears moments - - Which, I think, is exactly the way mother would have wanted it.

"Colder than Here" - is only here for a short run at the Lucile Lortell Theater in Greenwich Village. Give it a try!!