Full Article Text
Theater: Ethan Coen Births A Play;
"Simpsons" Survives; Shaw Thrives!
WOMEN OR NOTHING ** 1/2 out of ****
MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY * 1/2 out of ****
YOU NEVER CAN TELL *** out of ****
WOMEN OR NOTHING ** 1/2 out of ****
ATLANTIC THEATER COMPANY
When a play ends and the audience is caught short -- uncertain of whether to applaud --
it's a clear sign the show is one or two drafts away from being ready. That's certainly the
case for Ethan Coen's first full-length play. The filmmaker has turned out a string of one
acts so perhaps it's no surprise this play has two strong scenes that stand nicely on their
own. Unfortunately, it also has two bookends that go nowhere.
The set-up is simple: two career women want to have a child. Gretchen (Halley Feiffer, the
weak link in an otherwise strong cast) is luring a nice male co-worker over to theirapartment under false pretenses. Here's the plan. Gretchen fails to show. Her partnerLaura (Susan Pourfar) poses as a neighbor letting him in, they share a drink and beforeyou know it...baby! This nice guy Chuck (Robert Beitzel) is perfect because he's a greatguy, he already has a daughter with an ex-wife, the kid is adorable and he's moving fromNew York City to Florida so he can be closer to his child. What could go wrong?
It's the likely beginning to a farcical comedy. Surely Laura will find herself attracted to
Chuck in unexpected ways and their relationship will be tested rather than reinforced witha child. Just as likely, a third party -- in this case, Laura's mom (the indefatigable DeborahRush) -- will also appear to complicate the ruse even further.
Indeed, all of this happens but it's to Coen's growing confidence as a writer that he
plumbs this situation not for humor (though humor is abundant in the middle scenes) butfor its emotional complexity.May 13, 2014
This is the print preview:
Back to normal view »
Posted: 09/17/2013 12:05 am
(Photo by Kevin Thomas Garcia)
This is the world premiere of Women Or Nothing and it might be the casting that left me
confused as to the play's intent for a while. Feiffer and Pourfar have virtually no chemistry
whatsoever, so it's hard to know exactly how sturdy their relationship is meant to be. Itdoesn't help that Feiffer's Gretchen is a bit of a dolt with the ethics of a flea. Herarguments as to why a fertility clinic is a terrible option make no sense. And it isn't untilthe final scene that the smarter Laura finally -- but obliquely -- raises the issue of theirdeception. If Gretchen objects to a father that would ejaculate sperm into a test tube andthen walk away, why doesn't she object to a mother who would con a man intounintentionally creating a life but refuse to let him know about it?
Before these more serious issues can be raised, we're simply confused. Are we to believe
these two capable, intelligent women of means (one a famed concert pianist) living in NewYork City are in the closet? It's hardly out of the question, but if Gretchen is too afraid tocome out at her law firm, one wonders what kind of mother she'd be? And shouldn't alawyer be able to argue more convincingly? Then there's the distracting element of anover-the-top oil painting Gretchen takes from the bedroom and places in the living room.It depicts a naked woman writhing on the rocks by a shore, or something. If she's in thecloset -- as seems the case, since Chuck thinks they're going on a date -- why place thisvery lesbian bit of erotica on display? To arouse him? Won't that blow her cover? Andwhat the heck is the magazine Cosmopolitan meant to convey? That she's definitelystraight? Then why the sapphic art work? You know you're in trouble when a show raisesmore questions than it answers.
Yet once that very shaky first scene is over and a man arrives, Women Or Nothing
ironically comes to life. Pourfar and Beitzel have terrific chemistry and their big scene
together crackles. He's a Gary Cooper-esque tall glass of water, a man's man who is also
reflective and thoughtful. But not neurotic (or so we think). Chuck is by all lightsintelligent, sexy, and sincere. Laura's initial nervousness reveals itself by peppering himwith cocktail party questions (eg. what one trait would you change about yourself if youcould?), drinking steadily and slowly realizing that the only thing scarier than seducingthis unwitting sperm donor is knowing how much she likes him.
The following scene is almost as good, when Laura's mom Dorene pops in and fences with
first her daughter and then Chuck. She's tart, droll, exceptionally observant and very veryfunny thanks to Rush's pitch perfect delivery. The only problem with the scene is thatwhile information is revealed the plot is not genuinely moved forward. Then it ends withLaura and Gretchen alone, tentatively hoping the future won't be as complicated as thelast 24 hours. Coen's play -- directed ably by the talented David Cromer -- raises manyquestions about parenthood and responsibility. But it raises many more questions aboutthese characters and their motivations and where they might be headed that can only be
answered after another draft or two.
MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY * 1/2 out of ****
PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZON
Playwright Anne Washburn's new show is an intellectually admirable but dramatically
inert conceit posing as a drama. An initially intriguing set-up is replaced by a second act
set seven years in the future that offers up another, mildly intriguing conceit only to have
that replaced by a third act set 75 years in the future that is even more remote emotionallyand intellectually. You can nod your head and say, "Yes, I see what you're doing," but youcan't actually enjoy it.
In the first act, a group of people -- survivors, really -- are huddled by a fire. It's dark and
they're wary of what might be out there in the shadows though we don't know why. To killtime or perhaps to discover some common ground, these people are piecing together anepisode of The Simpsons . Matt (the inestimable Matthew Maher) is the de facto nerd in
chief here, mildly correcting line readings or approving descriptions of scenes as theycome to mind. One person seems mildly shell-shocked, another keeps watch with a gun atthe ready and they're all on edge.
When a stranger arrives and is patted down for weapons, we piece together what's
happening. The power grid has collapsed and this has meant that after days or weeksnuclear power plants have gone, well, nuclear. Society is in disarray, people are scatteredto the four winds and no one is sure who has survived or why. In one of Washburn's besttouches, we realize that a custom has arisen: when you meet someone new, you ask themabout ten people you know, ten people you are wondering whether or not they've comeacross in their travels. They, in turn, may ask you about ten people. We realize that thismakes sense; if there wasn't some agreed upon limit, some custom to rule this desperatedesire to find a loved one, people would never stop asking questions.
The stranger Gibson (a strong Gibson Frazier) offers up another piece of The Simpsons
episode they were recreating. It's hilarious and touching how complex and rich with
allusions even one episode of the show proves to be. When a reference to a Gilbert &
Sullivan song comes up, Frazier proves an expert and only the slightest prodding has him
up and singing lines from The Mikado. Here is the beginning to a potentially fascinating
play.
Unfortunately, that first act leads nowhere. In the second act, it's seven years later and
these same people are now members of a traveling theater troupe that performs episodesof The Simpsons. Their biggest rival has a LOT more episodes in its repertoire and in the
show's funniest moment, Maher is bitter over the fact that their enemies are doing "AStreetcar Named Marge," one of the show's most famous musical episodes. This act might
also have been the start of an interesting play. Though familiar to sci-fi fans, this
dystopian future has a few neat twists. They reenact Simpsons episodes and commercials
(heavy on references to food people can no longer get) and even musical medleys. In
another clever touch, there's a bartering system in place: the troupe pays people for
material, that is scenes or bits of dialogue from episodes of The Simpsons they haven't
already remembered themselves. It might have been a funny refraction of the theater
world under extreme circumstances, but before we can really get a handle on these
characters and their relationships, that rival theater troupe shows up guns a-blazing.
The final act reveals Washburn's ultimate purpose. Here we are 75 years in the future. The
entire act is simply a performance of a troupe doing a show. It's nominally an episode of
The Simpsons, but here the characters are indicated by the masks worn in Greek theater.
And the storyline involving Bart's showdown with Mr. Burns is far removed from any realplot. Washburn is showing how pop culture endures, how these figures embedded in our
consciousness can take on totemic meaning. Just as people in the past created new stories
involving the gods (or Robin Hood or whomever) to understand their world and find
comfort, so people in a post-apocalyptic future might somehow alight on Marge and
Homer and Lisa and Bart (here played well by Quincy Tyler Bernstine) and use them to
make sense of the horror that occurred.
One can imagine a tale that made powerful use of these characters we know so well. How
strangely touching it would be to hear a plea for peace and sanity in the scratchy voice ofMarge. How odd it would be to see Bart saving the world and have it actually be a genuinehope for the hero in us all. But what we actually watch in that final act is an uninteresting,vague tale that has a little to do with The Simpsons, a little to do with the tragic world the
audience 75 years in the future must deal with and a little to do with some other ideas aswell. But it's not moving or funny or weirdly compelling or anything that might have beenhoped for. It's just an idea and not one brought fully to life or played by characters weknow and whose confusion and pain we identify with.
Ambitious? Unquestionably. But in tackling such big ideas, Washburn forgot to root her
play in characters and story. The best sci-fi tells a gripping tale and let's the ideas thatpower them be embedded quietly in the world or future that's been created. Mr. Burnsputs the ideas first and leaves the characters far far behind, sitting by a fire andwondering if anyone is thinking about them at all.
YOU NEVER CAN TELL *** out of ****
THE PEARL THEATRE COMPANYDon't make the mistake I did. For years I heard about The Pearl Theatre Company but
somehow never made it to one of their shows. I took them for granted, which is easy to do
when a theater company is celebrating its 30th season. But they've moved into ahandsome new home on 42nd Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenue, whereSignature Theatre used to live. It won't be such a walk once the 7 train is extended butreally...isn't fun theater worth a little stroll?
Their new season is tied into a celebration of George Bernard Shaw called Shaw New York.
That's pioneered by the Gingold Theatrical Group (nice logo!), whose artistic director
David Staller is also the director of this revival of You Never Can Tell. Got it?
Now forget it. The point is that You Never Can Tell is light, breezy fun. Oh yes, Shaw
meant to shock: his heroine is Margaret (Robin Leslie Brown), a modern woman who
rejected her husband and raised three children all alone while writing best-selling guidesto womanhood, parenting and the like. The eldest daughter Gloria (the lovely AmeliaPedlow) has been groomed to carry on her mother's fight for the vote and women'sgeneral emancipation; marriage is most certainly not in the cards. Along for the ride are
two younger siblings raised in anarchy (Emma Wisniewski and Ben Charles) who cheekilywreck havoc with a smile.
Shaw's political instincts are admirable but his playwriting instincts are even stronger. A
work that might once have shocked survives and is worth reviving because of its playful
heart. The women here are surely in the right about gender roles but wrong about
romance and Shaw is wise enough to show it without undercutting their intelligence.
(Photo by Gregory Costanzo)
The Pearl's strong core of performers give a good enough
accounting of the play that I'm surprised I've never seen
it performed before. Its Shakespearean touches includemistaken identities, a magical air and a well-earnedhappy ending with the right bittersweet realism to makeit mean something. Before you get there, a pennilessdentist named Valentine (the very appealing SeanMcNall) must woo Gloria, a difficult task since Gloriaabhors the sentimental. In the show's centerpiece,Valentine runs circles around Gloria, declaring his lovethen declaring what nonsense it is to declare his love
and then saying how pretty she is but of course it isn't true he doesn't really think she'spretty but that's what his heart tells him and she wouldn't fall for such silly commentsanyway though my god he's in love!
McNall and Pedlow are absolutely delightful in these scenes that whipsaw from the high to
the low with ease. You're never sure exactly what Valentine truly believes (except thatthey're meant for each other) and that's exactly how he likes it. McNall was alsowonderful as J.M. Barrie in the latest Pearl show I saw. He's right at home in this pieceand matched moment by moment by Pedlow. Here's hoping New York can give herenough work to keep this talent in town longer since she's just one lucky break from amuch bigger career.
Brown is formidable as Margaret Clandon despite stumbling a bit on her lines the night I
caught and Bradford Cover fences nicely with her in a role that might easily have been all
bluster. Charles and Wisniewski are delightfully naughty as the children and Dominic
Cuskern able as their adviser. But Zachary Spicer positively stole the show in the final
scene as the Queen's Council Walter Bohun. He strode onto the stage, barked out
commands and was hilariously energizing.
The show needed that jolt because the main complaint is that the affable director David
Staller set a too stately pace. That was reflected in the one performance -- technically solid-- that I didn't enjoy by Dan Daily as the waiter "William." He spoke in a slow,exaggerated cadence and with the show moving slower and slower his take on the roleproved more provoking than it might have otherwise. Some snippets needed to be cut or awhip cracked to get things going at a much breezier pace.
Otherwise, the sets by Harry Feiner were especially charming, along with the costumes by
Barbara A. Bell. The lighting by Stephen Petrilli was used perhaps once too often tohighlight key moments in the show but was otherwise admirable. And the pleasure ofseeing this Shaw for the first time in sympathetic surroundings led by the very talentedMcNall and Pedlow make the night worth catching. You never can tell what a night at thetheater will bring you. But with the Pearl Theatre Company, you can be pretty darn
certain.
THE THEATER OF 2013 (on a four star scale)
The Other Place ** 1/2
Picnic * 1/2
Opus No. 7 ** 1/2
Deceit * 1/2
Life And Times Episodes 1-4 **
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (w Scarlett Johansson) * 1/2
The Jamme r ***
Blood Play ** 1/2
Manilow On Broadway ** 1/2
Women Of Will ** 1/2
All In The Timing ***
Isaac's Eye ***
Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale Of Musical Mystery ** 1/2
The Mnemonist Of Dutchess County * 1/2
Much Ado About Nothing ***
Really Really *
Parsifal at the Met *** 1/2
The Madrid * 1/2
The Wild Bride at St. Ann's ** 1/2
Passion at CSC *** 1/2
Carousel at Lincoln Center ***
The Revisionist **
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella ***
Rock Of Ages * 1/2
Ann ** 1/2
Old Hats ***
The Flick ***
Detroit '67 ** 1/2
Howling Hilda reading * (Mary Testa ***)
Hit The Wall *
Breakfast At Tiffany's * 1/2
The Mound Builders at Signature *
Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike *** 1/2
Cirque Du Soleil's Totem ***
The Lying Lesson * 1/2
Hands On A Hardbody *
Kinky Boots **
Matilda The Musical *** 1/2
The Rascals: Once Upon A Dream ***
Motown: The Musical **
La Ruta ** 1/2
The Big Knife *
The Nance ***
The Assembled Parties ** 1/2
Jekyll & Hyde * 1/2
Thoroughly Modern Millie ** 1/2
Macbeth w Alan Cumming *
Orphans ** 1/2
The Testament Of Mary ** 1/2
The Drawer Boy **
The Trip To Bountiful ***
I'll Eat You Last ** 1/2
Pippin *
This Side Of Neverland ***
A Public Reading Of An Unproduced Screenplay About The Death Of Walt Disney ***
Natasha, Pierre And The Great Comet Of 1812 ***
Colin Quinn Unconstitutional ** 1/2
A Family For All Occasions *
The Weir *** 1/2
Disney's The Little Mermaid **
Far From Heaven **
The Caucasian Chalk Circle **
Somewhere Fun **
Venice no stars
Reasons To Be Happy **
STePz *** 1/2
The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare In The Park) ***
Roadkill ** 1/2
Forever Tango ***
Monkey: Journey To The West ** 1/2
The Civilians: Be The Death Of Me ***
NYMF: Swiss Family Robinson **
NYMF: Dizzy Miss Lizzie's Roadside Revue Presents The Brontes * 1/2
NYMF: Mata Hari in 8 Bullets ***
NYMF: Life Could Be A Dream **
NYMF: Mother Divine **
NYMF: Julian Po ** 1/2
NYMF: Marry Harry **
NYMF: Gary Goldfarb: Master Escapist ** 1/2
NYMF: Castle Walk ***
NYMF: Crossing Swords ***
NYMF: Bend In The Road *** 1/2
NYMF: Homo The Musical no stars
NYMF: Volleygirls *** 1/2
Murder For Two **
Let it Be **
The Cheaters Club *
All The Faces Of The Moon *
Women Or Nothing ** 1/2
Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play * 1/2
You Never Can Tell ***
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder and CEO of BookFilter, a book lover's
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"Simpsons" Survives; Shaw Thrives!
WOMEN OR NOTHING ** 1/2 out of ****
MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY * 1/2 out of ****
YOU NEVER CAN TELL *** out of ****
WOMEN OR NOTHING ** 1/2 out of ****
ATLANTIC THEATER COMPANY
When a play ends and the audience is caught short -- uncertain of whether to applaud --
it's a clear sign the show is one or two drafts away from being ready. That's certainly the
case for Ethan Coen's first full-length play. The filmmaker has turned out a string of one
acts so perhaps it's no surprise this play has two strong scenes that stand nicely on their
own. Unfortunately, it also has two bookends that go nowhere.
The set-up is simple: two career women want to have a child. Gretchen (Halley Feiffer, the
weak link in an otherwise strong cast) is luring a nice male co-worker over to theirapartment under false pretenses. Here's the plan. Gretchen fails to show. Her partnerLaura (Susan Pourfar) poses as a neighbor letting him in, they share a drink and beforeyou know it...baby! This nice guy Chuck (Robert Beitzel) is perfect because he's a greatguy, he already has a daughter with an ex-wife, the kid is adorable and he's moving fromNew York City to Florida so he can be closer to his child. What could go wrong?
It's the likely beginning to a farcical comedy. Surely Laura will find herself attracted to
Chuck in unexpected ways and their relationship will be tested rather than reinforced witha child. Just as likely, a third party -- in this case, Laura's mom (the indefatigable DeborahRush) -- will also appear to complicate the ruse even further.
Indeed, all of this happens but it's to Coen's growing confidence as a writer that he
plumbs this situation not for humor (though humor is abundant in the middle scenes) butfor its emotional complexity.May 13, 2014
This is the print preview:
Back to normal view »
Posted: 09/17/2013 12:05 am
(Photo by Kevin Thomas Garcia)
This is the world premiere of Women Or Nothing and it might be the casting that left me
confused as to the play's intent for a while. Feiffer and Pourfar have virtually no chemistry
whatsoever, so it's hard to know exactly how sturdy their relationship is meant to be. Itdoesn't help that Feiffer's Gretchen is a bit of a dolt with the ethics of a flea. Herarguments as to why a fertility clinic is a terrible option make no sense. And it isn't untilthe final scene that the smarter Laura finally -- but obliquely -- raises the issue of theirdeception. If Gretchen objects to a father that would ejaculate sperm into a test tube andthen walk away, why doesn't she object to a mother who would con a man intounintentionally creating a life but refuse to let him know about it?
Before these more serious issues can be raised, we're simply confused. Are we to believe
these two capable, intelligent women of means (one a famed concert pianist) living in NewYork City are in the closet? It's hardly out of the question, but if Gretchen is too afraid tocome out at her law firm, one wonders what kind of mother she'd be? And shouldn't alawyer be able to argue more convincingly? Then there's the distracting element of anover-the-top oil painting Gretchen takes from the bedroom and places in the living room.It depicts a naked woman writhing on the rocks by a shore, or something. If she's in thecloset -- as seems the case, since Chuck thinks they're going on a date -- why place thisvery lesbian bit of erotica on display? To arouse him? Won't that blow her cover? Andwhat the heck is the magazine Cosmopolitan meant to convey? That she's definitelystraight? Then why the sapphic art work? You know you're in trouble when a show raisesmore questions than it answers.
Yet once that very shaky first scene is over and a man arrives, Women Or Nothing
ironically comes to life. Pourfar and Beitzel have terrific chemistry and their big scene
together crackles. He's a Gary Cooper-esque tall glass of water, a man's man who is also
reflective and thoughtful. But not neurotic (or so we think). Chuck is by all lightsintelligent, sexy, and sincere. Laura's initial nervousness reveals itself by peppering himwith cocktail party questions (eg. what one trait would you change about yourself if youcould?), drinking steadily and slowly realizing that the only thing scarier than seducingthis unwitting sperm donor is knowing how much she likes him.
The following scene is almost as good, when Laura's mom Dorene pops in and fences with
first her daughter and then Chuck. She's tart, droll, exceptionally observant and very veryfunny thanks to Rush's pitch perfect delivery. The only problem with the scene is thatwhile information is revealed the plot is not genuinely moved forward. Then it ends withLaura and Gretchen alone, tentatively hoping the future won't be as complicated as thelast 24 hours. Coen's play -- directed ably by the talented David Cromer -- raises manyquestions about parenthood and responsibility. But it raises many more questions aboutthese characters and their motivations and where they might be headed that can only be
answered after another draft or two.
MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY * 1/2 out of ****
PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZON
Playwright Anne Washburn's new show is an intellectually admirable but dramatically
inert conceit posing as a drama. An initially intriguing set-up is replaced by a second act
set seven years in the future that offers up another, mildly intriguing conceit only to have
that replaced by a third act set 75 years in the future that is even more remote emotionallyand intellectually. You can nod your head and say, "Yes, I see what you're doing," but youcan't actually enjoy it.
In the first act, a group of people -- survivors, really -- are huddled by a fire. It's dark and
they're wary of what might be out there in the shadows though we don't know why. To killtime or perhaps to discover some common ground, these people are piecing together anepisode of The Simpsons . Matt (the inestimable Matthew Maher) is the de facto nerd in
chief here, mildly correcting line readings or approving descriptions of scenes as theycome to mind. One person seems mildly shell-shocked, another keeps watch with a gun atthe ready and they're all on edge.
When a stranger arrives and is patted down for weapons, we piece together what's
happening. The power grid has collapsed and this has meant that after days or weeksnuclear power plants have gone, well, nuclear. Society is in disarray, people are scatteredto the four winds and no one is sure who has survived or why. In one of Washburn's besttouches, we realize that a custom has arisen: when you meet someone new, you ask themabout ten people you know, ten people you are wondering whether or not they've comeacross in their travels. They, in turn, may ask you about ten people. We realize that thismakes sense; if there wasn't some agreed upon limit, some custom to rule this desperatedesire to find a loved one, people would never stop asking questions.
The stranger Gibson (a strong Gibson Frazier) offers up another piece of The Simpsons
episode they were recreating. It's hilarious and touching how complex and rich with
allusions even one episode of the show proves to be. When a reference to a Gilbert &
Sullivan song comes up, Frazier proves an expert and only the slightest prodding has him
up and singing lines from The Mikado. Here is the beginning to a potentially fascinating
play.
Unfortunately, that first act leads nowhere. In the second act, it's seven years later and
these same people are now members of a traveling theater troupe that performs episodesof The Simpsons. Their biggest rival has a LOT more episodes in its repertoire and in the
show's funniest moment, Maher is bitter over the fact that their enemies are doing "AStreetcar Named Marge," one of the show's most famous musical episodes. This act might
also have been the start of an interesting play. Though familiar to sci-fi fans, this
dystopian future has a few neat twists. They reenact Simpsons episodes and commercials
(heavy on references to food people can no longer get) and even musical medleys. In
another clever touch, there's a bartering system in place: the troupe pays people for
material, that is scenes or bits of dialogue from episodes of The Simpsons they haven't
already remembered themselves. It might have been a funny refraction of the theater
world under extreme circumstances, but before we can really get a handle on these
characters and their relationships, that rival theater troupe shows up guns a-blazing.
The final act reveals Washburn's ultimate purpose. Here we are 75 years in the future. The
entire act is simply a performance of a troupe doing a show. It's nominally an episode of
The Simpsons, but here the characters are indicated by the masks worn in Greek theater.
And the storyline involving Bart's showdown with Mr. Burns is far removed from any realplot. Washburn is showing how pop culture endures, how these figures embedded in our
consciousness can take on totemic meaning. Just as people in the past created new stories
involving the gods (or Robin Hood or whomever) to understand their world and find
comfort, so people in a post-apocalyptic future might somehow alight on Marge and
Homer and Lisa and Bart (here played well by Quincy Tyler Bernstine) and use them to
make sense of the horror that occurred.
One can imagine a tale that made powerful use of these characters we know so well. How
strangely touching it would be to hear a plea for peace and sanity in the scratchy voice ofMarge. How odd it would be to see Bart saving the world and have it actually be a genuinehope for the hero in us all. But what we actually watch in that final act is an uninteresting,vague tale that has a little to do with The Simpsons, a little to do with the tragic world the
audience 75 years in the future must deal with and a little to do with some other ideas aswell. But it's not moving or funny or weirdly compelling or anything that might have beenhoped for. It's just an idea and not one brought fully to life or played by characters weknow and whose confusion and pain we identify with.
Ambitious? Unquestionably. But in tackling such big ideas, Washburn forgot to root her
play in characters and story. The best sci-fi tells a gripping tale and let's the ideas thatpower them be embedded quietly in the world or future that's been created. Mr. Burnsputs the ideas first and leaves the characters far far behind, sitting by a fire andwondering if anyone is thinking about them at all.
YOU NEVER CAN TELL *** out of ****
THE PEARL THEATRE COMPANYDon't make the mistake I did. For years I heard about The Pearl Theatre Company but
somehow never made it to one of their shows. I took them for granted, which is easy to do
when a theater company is celebrating its 30th season. But they've moved into ahandsome new home on 42nd Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenue, whereSignature Theatre used to live. It won't be such a walk once the 7 train is extended butreally...isn't fun theater worth a little stroll?
Their new season is tied into a celebration of George Bernard Shaw called Shaw New York.
That's pioneered by the Gingold Theatrical Group (nice logo!), whose artistic director
David Staller is also the director of this revival of You Never Can Tell. Got it?
Now forget it. The point is that You Never Can Tell is light, breezy fun. Oh yes, Shaw
meant to shock: his heroine is Margaret (Robin Leslie Brown), a modern woman who
rejected her husband and raised three children all alone while writing best-selling guidesto womanhood, parenting and the like. The eldest daughter Gloria (the lovely AmeliaPedlow) has been groomed to carry on her mother's fight for the vote and women'sgeneral emancipation; marriage is most certainly not in the cards. Along for the ride are
two younger siblings raised in anarchy (Emma Wisniewski and Ben Charles) who cheekilywreck havoc with a smile.
Shaw's political instincts are admirable but his playwriting instincts are even stronger. A
work that might once have shocked survives and is worth reviving because of its playful
heart. The women here are surely in the right about gender roles but wrong about
romance and Shaw is wise enough to show it without undercutting their intelligence.
(Photo by Gregory Costanzo)
The Pearl's strong core of performers give a good enough
accounting of the play that I'm surprised I've never seen
it performed before. Its Shakespearean touches includemistaken identities, a magical air and a well-earnedhappy ending with the right bittersweet realism to makeit mean something. Before you get there, a pennilessdentist named Valentine (the very appealing SeanMcNall) must woo Gloria, a difficult task since Gloriaabhors the sentimental. In the show's centerpiece,Valentine runs circles around Gloria, declaring his lovethen declaring what nonsense it is to declare his love
and then saying how pretty she is but of course it isn't true he doesn't really think she'spretty but that's what his heart tells him and she wouldn't fall for such silly commentsanyway though my god he's in love!
McNall and Pedlow are absolutely delightful in these scenes that whipsaw from the high to
the low with ease. You're never sure exactly what Valentine truly believes (except thatthey're meant for each other) and that's exactly how he likes it. McNall was alsowonderful as J.M. Barrie in the latest Pearl show I saw. He's right at home in this pieceand matched moment by moment by Pedlow. Here's hoping New York can give herenough work to keep this talent in town longer since she's just one lucky break from amuch bigger career.
Brown is formidable as Margaret Clandon despite stumbling a bit on her lines the night I
caught and Bradford Cover fences nicely with her in a role that might easily have been all
bluster. Charles and Wisniewski are delightfully naughty as the children and Dominic
Cuskern able as their adviser. But Zachary Spicer positively stole the show in the final
scene as the Queen's Council Walter Bohun. He strode onto the stage, barked out
commands and was hilariously energizing.
The show needed that jolt because the main complaint is that the affable director David
Staller set a too stately pace. That was reflected in the one performance -- technically solid-- that I didn't enjoy by Dan Daily as the waiter "William." He spoke in a slow,exaggerated cadence and with the show moving slower and slower his take on the roleproved more provoking than it might have otherwise. Some snippets needed to be cut or awhip cracked to get things going at a much breezier pace.
Otherwise, the sets by Harry Feiner were especially charming, along with the costumes by
Barbara A. Bell. The lighting by Stephen Petrilli was used perhaps once too often tohighlight key moments in the show but was otherwise admirable. And the pleasure ofseeing this Shaw for the first time in sympathetic surroundings led by the very talentedMcNall and Pedlow make the night worth catching. You never can tell what a night at thetheater will bring you. But with the Pearl Theatre Company, you can be pretty darn
certain.
THE THEATER OF 2013 (on a four star scale)
The Other Place ** 1/2
Picnic * 1/2
Opus No. 7 ** 1/2
Deceit * 1/2
Life And Times Episodes 1-4 **
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (w Scarlett Johansson) * 1/2
The Jamme r ***
Blood Play ** 1/2
Manilow On Broadway ** 1/2
Women Of Will ** 1/2
All In The Timing ***
Isaac's Eye ***
Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale Of Musical Mystery ** 1/2
The Mnemonist Of Dutchess County * 1/2
Much Ado About Nothing ***
Really Really *
Parsifal at the Met *** 1/2
The Madrid * 1/2
The Wild Bride at St. Ann's ** 1/2
Passion at CSC *** 1/2
Carousel at Lincoln Center ***
The Revisionist **
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella ***
Rock Of Ages * 1/2
Ann ** 1/2
Old Hats ***
The Flick ***
Detroit '67 ** 1/2
Howling Hilda reading * (Mary Testa ***)
Hit The Wall *
Breakfast At Tiffany's * 1/2
The Mound Builders at Signature *
Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike *** 1/2
Cirque Du Soleil's Totem ***
The Lying Lesson * 1/2
Hands On A Hardbody *
Kinky Boots **
Matilda The Musical *** 1/2
The Rascals: Once Upon A Dream ***
Motown: The Musical **
La Ruta ** 1/2
The Big Knife *
The Nance ***
The Assembled Parties ** 1/2
Jekyll & Hyde * 1/2
Thoroughly Modern Millie ** 1/2
Macbeth w Alan Cumming *
Orphans ** 1/2
The Testament Of Mary ** 1/2
The Drawer Boy **
The Trip To Bountiful ***
I'll Eat You Last ** 1/2
Pippin *
This Side Of Neverland ***
A Public Reading Of An Unproduced Screenplay About The Death Of Walt Disney ***
Natasha, Pierre And The Great Comet Of 1812 ***
Colin Quinn Unconstitutional ** 1/2
A Family For All Occasions *
The Weir *** 1/2
Disney's The Little Mermaid **
Far From Heaven **
The Caucasian Chalk Circle **
Somewhere Fun **
Venice no stars
Reasons To Be Happy **
STePz *** 1/2
The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare In The Park) ***
Roadkill ** 1/2
Forever Tango ***
Monkey: Journey To The West ** 1/2
The Civilians: Be The Death Of Me ***
NYMF: Swiss Family Robinson **
NYMF: Dizzy Miss Lizzie's Roadside Revue Presents The Brontes * 1/2
NYMF: Mata Hari in 8 Bullets ***
NYMF: Life Could Be A Dream **
NYMF: Mother Divine **
NYMF: Julian Po ** 1/2
NYMF: Marry Harry **
NYMF: Gary Goldfarb: Master Escapist ** 1/2
NYMF: Castle Walk ***
NYMF: Crossing Swords ***
NYMF: Bend In The Road *** 1/2
NYMF: Homo The Musical no stars
NYMF: Volleygirls *** 1/2
Murder For Two **
Let it Be **
The Cheaters Club *
All The Faces Of The Moon *
Women Or Nothing ** 1/2
Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play * 1/2
You Never Can Tell ***
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