{"id":165,"date":"2010-05-18T15:00:11","date_gmt":"2010-05-18T19:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/?p=165"},"modified":"2010-05-18T15:03:22","modified_gmt":"2010-05-18T19:03:22","slug":"on-the-aisle-with-larry-18-may-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/?p=165","title":{"rendered":"“On the Aisle with Larry” 18 May 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lawrence Harbison<\/em><\/strong>, The Playfixer, brings you up to date with what\u2019s hot and what\u2019s not in New York. This week, Larry tells you about THE FOREST, THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, THE KID, LASCIVIOUS SOMETHING <\/strong>and WHITE\u2019S LIES.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Russian playwright Alexander Ostrovsky was the most well-known and successful playwright in Russia in his day (mid-19th<\/sup> Century); but nowadays he is best known, at least in this country, as a sort of precursor to Chekhov. It\u2019s easy to see why when viewing his The Forest, <\/em><\/strong>currently on view at CSC.<\/p>\n

The play takes place at a country estate, much like those in The Cherry Orchard<\/em> and Uncle Vanya<\/em>. Whereas Chekhov\u2019s characters are clearly on the cusp of social change, Ostrovsky\u2019s are an entrenched quasi-feudal upper class, and as such are a portrait of a culture whose denizens are blissfully unaware that a tsunami is going to hit them just a few decades later.<\/p>\n

The central character in The Forest<\/em> is a wealthy land owner named Raisa, played with her usual quirky aplomb by Dianne Weist. She fancies herself a benevolent individual; but in reality she\u2019s a skinflint. She\u2019s taken in an impoverished young man and plans to marry him off to her niece; but in actuality she has the hots for the guy herself (I guess you could say she\u2019s a proto-cougar), and the niece wants to marry the daughter of a wealthy neighbor but can\u2019t because she has no dowry. Into this mix strides Raisa\u2019s long-lost nephew who, it turns out has been reduced to being an itinerant actor, and an impoverished one at that.<\/p>\n

The play is long on exposition, but once you get by that it is intermittently enjoyable, a light social comedy with some very fine performances.<\/p>\n

The Screwtape Letters<\/em><\/strong>, at the Westside Theatre, is a stage adaptation of C.S. Lewis\u2019 epistolary novel about a senior member of the Devil\u2019s staff issuing orders to his hapless nephew, a tempter-in-training who makes one rookie mistake after another in his quest to snag his first soul. Uncle Screwtape is a devilishly delightful fellow, particularly as played here by the wonderful Max McLean, until the end, when his nephew Wormwood pays the price for incompetence in the service of Our Lord Below.<\/p>\n

This devilish take on salvation and temptation is great fun, whether or not you believe that Evil is an objective force fighting the forces of Good.<\/p>\n

The New Group has a new musical on view at the Acorn Theatre, The Kid,<\/em><\/strong> based on a book by sex advice guru Dan Savage about the struggles of a gay couple to adopt a child. Eventually, they are chosen by an unwed, homeless teenaged girl; but the tension builds when there becomes a distinct possibility that she will renege.<\/p>\n

The songs, by Andy Monroe (music) and Jeck Lechner (lyrics) service the story well, though none of them stand out on their own. The music is light, amiable, but not particularly memorable. What carries the evening is the witty\/poignant book by Michael Zam, the inventive direction by Scott Elliott and the wonderful performances by the likes of Christopher Sieber and Lucas Steele as Our Heroes, the Fairy Father wannabes, and the ensemble, all of whom pay multiple roles.<\/p>\n

This one is not a must-see; but it\u2019s most enjoyable if you\u2019re into the subject matter.<\/p>\n

The Women\u2019s Project has concluded its season with a fascinating drama, Lascivious Something<\/em><\/strong>, by Sheila Callaghan. We are in the impoverished Greek island home of August, an American, and Daphne, his young Greek wife. It is 1980. August, a former student activist in California in the 60\u2019s, has dropped way, way out; when who should arrive but his former girlfriend and political partner Liza, after all these years. What does she want, and why is she here?<\/p>\n

Ms. Callaghan employs a most unusual device several times, wherein she provides two alternative versions of a scene \u2013 the one the characters want to play, and the one they actually do play. I found this device fascinating; but I can see how some might find it annoying.<\/p>\n

Be that as it may, director Daniella Topol\u2019s cast if wonderful. Rob Campbell is a delightfully dissolute August and Dana Eskelson provides the right blend of determined and enigmatic as Liza. My fave, though, was Elizabeth Waterston as Daphne \u2013 sexy, strong but just a little bit vulnerable. This is a Future Star, no doubt about it.<\/p>\n

Finally, I caught up with Ben Andron\u2019s White\u2019s Lies<\/em><\/strong> at New World Stages. I shall preface my remarks by saying that whenever I read terrible reviews for a play, this makes me curious to see it \u2013 to find out what it was that pissed \u2018em off so. More often than not, I have found that the play that got slammed deserved a lot better. Also, I have lamented that pure out-and-out comedy is inevitably panned, usually unfairly. So, I was in a very positive frame of mind when I went to see White\u2019s Lies<\/em>. That lasted about 5 minutes.<\/p>\n

This is a godawful play about a supposed high-powered divorce lawyer who beds a different woman practically every night. His mother tells him that she has terminal cancer (she comes to his office, For Some Strange Reason, to tell him this), and that her dying wish is that she have a grand child. Who should show up but an old flame from his college days who wants to hire him to handle her divorce. She hates him, has always hated him, but she figures he\u2019s just the scumbag she needs to help her take her husband for all he\u2019s worth. For Some Strange Reason, she brings along her daughter. Our Hero (well\u2026) gets an idea. If the daughter will pose as his long-lost daughter who he didn\u2019t know he had, Mom\u2019s dying wish will be fulfilled. The Old Flame is resistant to this brilliant idea, until the lawyer offers to handle her case for free. The daughter, on the other hand, is All For It. Dad and daughter proceed to get to know each other, which inevitably (in this playwright\u2019s world anyway), leads to sex. That\u2019s about the time I ran out, ranting into the night.<\/p>\n

This play is just one terrible joke and contrived situation after another. Here\u2019s a for- instance: We are given to understand that the lawyer has a fabulous bachelor pad. We know this because his mother (played valiantly by Betty Buckley, of all people), who has constantly expressed her dismay at his many sexual conquests, says that he has such a nice apartment, she thought he might be gay. DOES THIS MAKE SENSE TO YOU??? What I wanna know is, if this guy has such a great apartment, why does he only shtup his women at his office? Could it be that they\u2019d need another set, and then how could his nebbishy partner constantly walk in on him when he\u2019s with his latest babe (which is an attempted running joke)?<\/p>\n

Man, would I like to know the story of how this turkey got produced. Could it be a vanity production of some sort, or is it just that the producers \u2013 Aaron Grant, Jana Robbins, Jeremy Hackman, Craig Haffner, Karl E. Held and something called \u201cSneaky Pete Productions\u201d \u2013 have Absolutely No Taste Whatsoever? And, what the heck is a class act like Betty Buckley doing in this dreck?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\n\n\n\n
THE FOREST<\/strong>. CSC, 136 E. 13TH<\/sup> St.<\/p>\n

TICKETS: 212-677-4210<\/p>\n

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS<\/strong>. Westside Theatre, 407 W. 43rd<\/sup> St.<\/p>\n

TICKETS: www.telecharge.com<\/a> or 212-239-6200<\/p>\n

THE KID<\/strong>. Acorn Theatre, 410 W. 42nd<\/sup> St.<\/p>\n

TICKETS: www.ticketcentral.com<\/a> or 212-279-4200<\/p>\n

LASCIVIOUS SOMETHING<\/strong>. Julia Miles Theatre (Women\u2019s Project), 424 W. 55th<\/sup> St.<\/p>\n

TICKETS: 212-757-3900<\/p>\n

WHITE\u2019S LIES<\/strong>. New World Stages. Fuhgeddaboudit<\/strong>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

“It requires a certain largeness of spirit to give generous appreciation to large achievements. A society with\u00a0a crabbed spirit\u00a0and a\u00a0cynical urge to discount and devalue will find that one day, when it needs to draw upon the reservoirs of excellence, the reservoirs have run dry.”<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

—– George F. Will<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawrence Harbison, The Playfixer, brings you up to date with what\u2019s hot and what\u2019s not in New York. This week, Larry tells you about THE FOREST, THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, THE KID, LASCIVIOUS SOMETHING and WHITE\u2019S LIES. Russian playwright Alexander Ostrovsky was the most well-known and successful playwright in Russia in his day (mid-19th Century); but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=165"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167,"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165\/revisions\/167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}