UPDATE ON UPCOMING SHOWS
September
is shaping up with some very exciting prospects and I wanted to keep you
informed of what I’ve already booked, since I won’t be reviewing anything for
several days. That's because of my current immersion in the five-play cycle
of plays by Lucy Thurber being presented by the Rattlestick Playwrights
Theatre, at various Off-Broadway venues, with two at the Cherry Lane, one at
the Rattlestick itself, one at the Axis Theatre, and one at the New Ohio. I’ve
already seen SCARCITY and ASHVILLE, and will be attending WHERE WE’RE BORN,
KILLERS AND OTHER FAMILY, and STAY over the rest of the week. The entire series
will be covered in a single review, as per the request of the press rep, so mum’s
the word until then.
After that I’ll be traveling to the
Flea on White Street to see the Bats perform THE RECOMMENDATION, a new play by
Jonathan Caren, described in these words: “Aaron Feldman is popular
and connected. He is everything his best friend Iskinder Iudoku is not, but
when Feldman gets pulled over for a broken taillight, he is introduced to a
world where privilege means nothing and Iskinder has the advantage. A play about
friendship, class and where loyalty has its limits.” Then there’s a new work about
Freud, FINAL ANALYSIS, at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at the Signature
on W. 42 St. and another work by the same company in the same venue,
BREAKFAST WITH MUGABE. The former is described thusly: “FINAL ANALYSIS, was
part of the 2012 Midtown International Theatre Festival and was honored with
seven MITF Awards, receiving an unprecedented 13 nominations. The play,
directed by Ludovica Villar-Hauser, is set in turn-of-the-century Vienna--the
crossroads of civilization, a major confluence of art, music, science and
politics. But, festering beneath the facade of frivolity and joy, the city is
rotting at its core, sickened by moral corruption, obsessed with death, and
ravaged by a growing hatred of the Jews. Against this background, Gustav
Mahler, the great composer and conductor, falls in love with the talented,
tempestuous Alma Schindler; Joseph Stalin meets a dangerous young man over a
game of chess; Ludwig Wittgenstein, destined to become a dominant force in
world philosophy, runs into an old schoolmate with unpleasant consequences, and
in the midst of this, Sigmund Freud faces what he has always denied: the essential, evil nature of man.”
BREAKFAST WITH MUGABE, already the
recipient of a positive review by the New
York Times, is described this way: “Fraser Grace’s thriller is inspired by
newspaper reports that Robert Mugabe, severely depressed, and convinced he was
haunted by the ghost of a dead comrade, was treated by a white psychiatrist. It
premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Other Place in 2005,” and then
transferred to the West End, with other important productions following.
59E59 will be presenting THE LIFE AND
SORT OF DEATH OF ERIC ARGYLE: “Eric Argyle is having a bad Sunday. It’s late.
He’s still in his pyjamas. A room full of people are staring at him. And he
died at 11.42am, two days ago. An issue that people don’t seem all that
receptive to.” And then I’ll be off to FETCH CLAY, MAKE MAN, at the New York
Theatre Workshop, a play that examines a true but surprising relationship. “In
the days leading up to one of Cassius Clay's most anticipated fights, the
heavyweight boxing champion forms an unlikely friendship with the controversial
Hollywood star Stepin Fetchit. With a rhythmic script by award-winning
performer and playwright Will Power, who received rave reviews for his hip-hop
productions of Flow and The Seven at NYTW, and direction by Tony Award winner Des
McAnuff, FETCH CLAY, MAKE MAN explores the
improbable bond that forms between two drastically different and influential
cultural icons. One a vibrant and audacious youth, the other a resentful and
almost forgotten relic, together as they fight to form their public personas
and shape their legacies amidst the struggle of the Civil Rights Movement of
the mid-1960s. This true story is as powerful and poetic as Clay himself while
also humorous and irreverent like Fetchit's signature act. Finding commonality
in contradiction, FETCH CLAY, MAKE MAN examines the true meaning of strength,
resilience and pride.”
On the evening of the day I see
FETCH CLAY, MAKE MAN, I’ll be privileged to attend Lear DeBessonet’s staging (with 200 actors!) of THE TEMPEST, a huge
civic undertaking sponsored by the Public Theatre and being premiered at the
Delacorte in Central Park before moving to other NYC venues. “Public Works is
the Off-Broadway company's new program, which aims to build audience engagement
in all five boroughs of New York City.The Tempest will feature individuals from
such diverse groups as Children's Aid Society (Manhattan); DreamYard (Bronx); Fortune
Society (Queens); Brownsville Recreation Center (Brooklyn); and Domestic
Workers United (all boroughs). Participants will be cast in lead and ensemble
roles alongside professional actors.”
THE HATMAKER’S WIFE will follow at
the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre on 42nd Street, with Rachel Chavkin (NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812) at the helm of Lauren
Yee’s “whimsical and poignant new play [in which] a young woman moves in with her boyfriend expecting domestic
bliss, but instead has trouble getting comfortable. Her strange new home seems
determined to help out - and soon the walls are talking. They reveal the
magical tale of an old hat-maker and his long-suffering wife, who runs away
with his favorite hat. This sweet and surreal story bends time and space to
redefine the idea of family, home, and true love itself.”
Then comes BRENDAN AT THE CHELSEA, at
the Acorn on Theatre Row, described as “a warm and funny play set in the 1960s
when the notorious Brendan Behan absconded from Ireland to New York and set up
residence in the bohemian Chelsea Hotel where his neighbors included Arthur
Miller, Bob Dylan and other artists. He’s drunk, broke, hung over and way past
the delivery date of his latest book; then a wire arrives from Dublin with the
kind of news that’s guaranteed to put his blood pressure through the roof.” The
next night brings PHILIP GOES FORTH, a revival of a 1931 George Kelly comedy at
the Mint, and yet another comedy revival the night afterward, Shaw’s YOU NEVER
CAN TELL, at the Pearl.
A solo show from Ireland follows, I
CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW (THE WHEELCHAIR ON MY FACE), written and performed by Sonia
Kelly, at 59E59, with a play by Horton Foote scheduled for the next day at the
Signature. It’s called THE OLD FRIENDS and stars musical theatre great Betty
Buckley. A couple of days later Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad costar as the
fated lovers in ROMEO AND JULIET, the first Broadway revival of this Shakespearean
classic in well over 30 years, with a new play by Regina Taylor at the
Signature a day later. It’s title is STOP.RESET and it's described as follows: "As
e-books outsell printed books, Alex Ames, the owner of Chicago’s oldest African
American book publishing company, must question each of his employees to
determine who is still relevant in a rapidly changing world. When he meets J, a
mysterious youth plugged into the future, Mr. Ames is forced to discover just
how far he will go to survive. A new play from Residency Five playwright Regina
Taylor, stop. reset. asks powerful questions of legacy, identity and
survival in a world where the real and the virtual are more closely tied than
we think."
Then there’s something by Ethan
Coen, of the movies’ Coen brothers, at the Atlantic, WOMEN OR NOTHING. This is Coen's
first full-length play. It’s “about two women so desperate to have a child that
one of them will even sleep with a man. Who the man is, what he thinks is going
on, what the women think about what he thinks, and what the mother of one of
the women reveals about her own colorful past—it all defies belief. Why then
does it all make sense?” Finally, there’s ARGUENDO, staged at the Public by the
adventurous Elevator Repair Service. “In Barnes v. Glen Theatre, a 1991 First
Amendment case brought by a group of go-go dancers, the justices of the U.S.
Supreme Court debate whether dancing naked in a strip club is an exercise of
artistic expression or a crime. In ARGUENDO, ERS presents the case's oral
argument, verbatim, revealing a compelling intellectual struggle and the
court's often-absurd sense of humor. There will be a 20-minute talk back
following every show, included in the price of admission.”
