Benefactors

Michael Frayn's play, Benefactors, is a gripping, poignant, and dramatic new work now playing off-Broadway at Theatre Row on 42nd Street.  You might recognize another of his hit-plays, Noises Off, which has played on and off-Broadway multiple times.  The 4 actors, Vivienne Benesch, Daniel Jenkins, Stephen Baker Turner, and Deanne Lorette, each give superb performances and seem to be perfectly cast in their roles.

Is the play a scosche too long? Probably.  Could that be easily fixed?  Certainly.  I'm not worried one bit.  What I am worried about is the title itself.  After you hear the dialogue and absorb the subject matter, it seemed to me, and a few others leaving the theatre, that the title was a bit deceptive in two ways: First, it drove me to think that the entire play there was some invisible character that was going to pop out of the woodwork who would be a plausible explanation for the mounting conflict we were watching unfold on stage.  No such luck.   Second, it had no direct connection to the play unfolding before my eyes.  It was only after the play upon reflection that I properly determined what it was supposed to represent.  Mr. Frayn, how about the obvious - Basuto Road.  Innocuous.  Mysterious.  Has a powerful, dramatic, and ominous tone to it, no?  After the obvious, I'm sure there are some other equally appropriate lines from the play that could have been turned into the show's title.   The choice of Benefactors served only to un-focus my attention to the story because I was constantly distracted in trying to figure out - who is the mystery man behind the story that is the "Benefactor"?  When are we going to meet him?  When will the plot be resolved?   It moved my focus away from the brilliantly crafted character study being performed.  

Title aside, the play is thought provoking, intelligent, well acted and well-structured.  Kudos to the director, Carl Forsman for what appeared to me to be quite snappy staging with a subtle story-telling aspect cleverly built into the delivery of the dialogue.

La Bête

This is a tough one.  Intelligent and erudite - certainly.  Bombastic and overblown - possibly.  Funny and witty, I think so.   Roll these descriptors together and you might just find La Bête.  American playwright, David Hirson penned an entire play in iambic pentameter - Above my head at times, biting and below the belt at others - you got it.

Make sure you don't go in thinking this is a simple or light play.  I think (but don't really know) that this show may have had two acts originally.  I thought there was a decisive split between two halves of the play - although probably compressed into a nearly bearable 1 hour and 45 minutes for this Broadway run.   Three stars, David Hyde Pierce, Mark Rylance, and Joanna Lumley helm this production and turn in quite substantial performances.  The first half of the play is somewhat long and verbose (verbose may even be an understatement).  The second half, when the princess (Lumley) makes her entrance is a bit less of a verbal assault and more of a story.  It actually contains a play within a play - which at its core is where the themes of artistic purpose, the dumbing down of art for the masses, and artistic purity are explored.  From the start it pits highbrow Elomire (Pierce) against lowbrow Valere (Rylance) and the sparks (read words) fly throughout.

If words are not your thing - you may not enjoy this play so much.  The stars certainly delight, and if you calculate your price of admission by words spoken - you certainly will have gotten your money's worth.