After having just endured The Low Road at the Public Theater, could another play assault me with a thematic bludgeon so soon again? The answer, thanks to The Stone Witch, is an unqualified yes. This play was written by Shem Bitterman. We are a cabin in the woods where revered children’s author Simon Grindberg lives. The handsome set promises Maurice Sendak. That is exactly where this play goes, from the Hans Christian Andersen award hanging on the wall to the death of family members during the Holocaust. Even the young naked boy from the controversial In The Night Kitchen is referenced.
Dan Lauria (Lombardi, The Wonder Years) plays the fictional author who is in a major writing slump, not having written a book in twelve years. His agent, described multiple times as a barracuda, hires an aspiring writer to help coax another book out of him. Into the woods and off to the cabin we go. Naturally our genius is an irascible fellow and drawn with every mood that could possibly fit into a long ninety minutes. The result is that the promising idea of this play is not achieved.
Rupak Ginn plays Peter Chandler, the young man who arrives with his newly minted manuscript of The Stone Witch. The two men start down an interesting, albeit very brief path of collaboration. Why is she made of stone? Unfortunately the play takes a quick turn to crazy town and plants it flag down firmly. If you miss any of the plot points, don’t worry. They are all repeated. On the plus side, I did leave the theater wanting to read the fictional children’s book.