Category: Off-Broadway Reviews

The Red Bull Theater specializes in “heightened language plays” with the Jacobean plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries as the cornerstone of their focus.  In 2015, they performed John Ford’s Tis Pity She’s A Whore, published in 1633.  To say that the play remains shocking is an understatement as the central plotline reimagines Romeo & Juliet but as brother and sister.  The production was dark, intense, beautifully acted and revolting but not for the reasons you might think.

This season, I signed on for the entire season, including a selection of single performance readings.  Just actors, scripts, chairs and podiums where you get to explore a piece of theater not regularly seen.  One of these readings was a hilarious retelling of William Congreve’s The Way of the World, a Restoration Comedy from 1700, as reimagined in the Hamptons.  (Kristen Nielsen, screamingly funny.)  In sum, I am a big fan of Red Bull’s mission and their work.

They have adapted Nikolai Gogol’s The Government Inspector as their final production this season, starring the talented Michael Urie (Signature Theater’s Angels in America, his award winning tour de force Buyer & Cellar, upcoming Torch Song Trilogy).  Written in 1836, The Government Inspector satirizes human greed, stupidity and the extensive political corruptness of imperial Russia.  The play is a funny piece, using humor to shine a critical mirror on the characters, their behaviors and a flawed society.  Unfortunately, this production was disappointingly flat.  Not that there were no laughs but if the direction had landed on telling the story either deadpan straight or wildly farcical, it may have worked better for me.  The combination of individual styles threw this one off balance.

redbulltheater.com

After seeing her Pulitzer Prize winning play, The Flick, and then John, the ghost story of a play written for Georgia Engel, I signed right up for Annie Baker’s next in her Signature Theater residency entitled The Antipodes.  From my seat, this play is not close to the heights achieved by those other works.  However, The Antipodes is far from boring.  The play takes place in a conference room of a company that aggressively flaunts its self-satisfied hipness by its founder and millionaire, Sandy (well played by Will Patton).  The basic premise is that the assembled group will brainstorm stories in search of their next new idea.

And then brainstormed stories emerge.  Some are interesting, some are not.  The characters also ponder the number of stories in existence.  In between, Sandy’s assistant (a perfect Nicole Rodenburg) comes in to take food orders.  Everything proceeds along by a solid cast but the going is a bit long, like a meeting that seemingly won’t end because there is no real agenda.  It’s one of those plays that makes me wonder whether I am smart enough to truly “get it.”  That said, the conference room setting and feeling of being in a company meeting felt authentic to someone who has spent countless hours in such group dynamics.  I  would recommend The Antipodes for Annie Baker enthusiasts – as long as you remember that those conference room meetings can be a bit tedious at times.

signaturetheater.org

I started attending productions by the Mint Theater Company in 2007 with The Return of the Prodigal.  The Mint “finds and produces worthwhile plays from the past that have been lost or forgotten.”  I have seen all but one of the last twenty seven plays produced by this outstanding company in the last decade.  I will post more about the Mint Theater eventually but suffice it to say for now that the play selections are usually excellent and the production values and casts worth your time and money.

Having a strong interest in exploring historical themes, people and situations places the Mint right in the center of my theatrical runway.  A. A. Milne’s The Lucky One originally premiered in New York in 1922, before his Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh stories made him a worldwide celebrity.  Mr. Milne was a very successful and prolific playwright, having three comedies on Broadway in the 1921-1922 season prior to this play.

The Lucky One tells a commonly charted family story about the antagonism and rivalry between the two Farringdon brothers, played by Robert David Grant (Gerald) and Ari Brand (outstanding as Bob).  These characters talk about golf and life at their country house and naturally one of the brothers is the luckier of the two.  While The Lucky One may be a century old, sibling jealousies and confrontations still resonate even if the setting is quaintly old fashioned.  Overall, good performances and a worthwhile play from the reliable Mint Theater Company.

minttheater.org