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| Laura Esterman, Charles Siebert. |
“Rubbers” [Politics/Women]; “Yanks 3 Detroit 0 Top of the
Seventh” [Baseball/Sports]
What Clive Barnes labeled “two undeniably funny” one-acts
marked the arrival of a promising new writer in Jonathan Reynolds. These plays
were, to several reviewers, overly long for their subjects, but their power to
amuse was attested to by all. There was no consensus on which was
the better play.
The first, a political satire, featured an excellent manic
performance by Laura Esterman as Mrs. Brimmins, a Brooklyn assemblywoman intent on pushing a bill through the New York State Assembly requiring the
countertop placement of condoms in drugstores, rather than being hidden
where consumers cannot easily see them. The entertainingly exaggerated,
self-serving male legislators who are set against their earnest female
colleague’s bill are hilariously exploited to “reflect the painful dopiness
of most politicians,” observed Martin Gottfried. Mrs. Brimmins uses her every
wile, including sex, to sway the opposition, whose arguments are expressed in
broad comedy turns depicting the social devastation her bill would cause if
passed.
Jack Kroll “didn’t stop laughing from start to finish”
during “Rubbers,” but Edith Oliver and others thought it went on “far too long.”
To Barnes, the author’s “theatrical zaniness” turned to “dramatic folly” by his
failure to know when to hold back. The cast included Charles Siebert, Lou
Criscuolo, Macintyre Dixon, Lane Binkley, Albert Hall, and others.
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| Mitchell Jason, Tony LoBianco, Lou Criscuolo. |
“Yanks 3” is essentially a monologue by an aging pitcher,
Duke Bronkowski (Tony LoBianco), who is making a sensational comeback for the
Yankees and whose entire career and outside interests are on the line after an
eight-year period of utter failure. He is pitching a no-hitter and throwing
only strikes against Detroit and is in the seventh inning when his confidence
begins to waver. As the game and his inner thoughts are played out, his irritable
catcher (Lou Criscuolo), aphorism-spouting manager (Mitchel Jason), and groupie
girlfriend (Lane Binkley) speak to him. Soon, though, his game has crumbled and
he gives up a grand slam that has his number written on it.
The exploration of his ethnically bigoted psyche as he faces
each Tiger batter was to carried off with comic effect. LoBianco gave it a “tour
de force” performance, wrote Barnes.
Alan Arkin’s direction was acclaimed and the acting in both
pieces was top-notch, as were Henry Millman’s sets, especially his bright green
baseball field.