Playing theatre catch-up

After the winter doldrums, during which I saw very little theatre (comparatively) and experienced more than a few slight mental hangups, the grass is green again and the mercury is rising.

Only appropos in the face of such lovely weather is a return to my voracious theatregoing. Now that the theatre season is really picking up its pace in the rollercoaster ride toward Tony season, I'm about to get back in the saddle and start seeing a lot more plays.

On Wednesday, I went to Lincoln Center to attend the latest installment in their Platform Series, a talk with Christopher Shinn, writer of the subtle and heartbreaking Dying City at Lincoln Center. I had previously seen Michael John LaChiusa and Sarah Ruhl at this Platform Series, and it was nice to see Shinn, particularly since he's such a young talent (and I need to learn how to get as far in the theatre world as quickly as he did). The moderator for the discussion was John Guare, playwright of Six Degrees of Separation, who was very charming and witty. Shinn is a great talent. I'm currently making my way through his book of plays, Where Do We Live, and it's pretty riveting stuff -- definitely recommended to avid playgoers.

Thursday night, I went to see Jack Goes Boating at the Public Theater, one of my favorite venues to see plays (I've also seen See What I Wanna See, Satellites, Stuff Happens, Wrecks, and Durango there in their various spaces). The play starred Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote, Magnolia, Boogie Nights) and Daphne Rubin-Vega (original Mimi in Rent), as well as John Ortiz and Beth Cole. It was a pretty slight play overall. The actors made the most of a rather negligible text, but they did a good job. Gimmicks (like nervous throat-clearing on the part of Hoffman) that could have been obnoxious were actually endearing. Ultimately, the play didn't strike me as anything all that special, but it was charming and innofensive enough, and it was nice to see two of my favorite actors on-stage (Rubin-Vega was also excellent in Bernarda Alba at Lincoln Center last year).

Tonight, Friday, I saw A Moon for the Misbegotten on Broadway. I was desperate to see another play tonight, and I went to see the show on a whim after striking out at rush or standing room for The Year of Magical Thinking and Curtains. I had really been looking forward to seeing this show, particularly since I've never seen anything by Eugene O'Neill prior to this show. It's a production by the Old Vic in London (Kevin Spacey is their artistic director) that has now transferred to Broadway, starring Kevin Spacey, Eve Best, and Colm Meany. I found the first act pretty lackluster, but things really picked up for the second act, which was perhaps one of the most effective pieces of theatrical writing I've ever seen. When Spacey and Best go head-to-head, steeped in their insecurities beneath the "damned moon," which Spacey's character, Jim Tyrone, describes as "an ad for the past," these actors give off unbelievable sparks. The performance I attended was only the first preview, but these actors had obviously already delved incredibly deeply into these roles, having played them before. It was definitely worth the student rate of $26.50 to see these spectacular talents take on O'Neill's masterpiece.

Tomorrow, I'm thinking of seeing Blackbird at Manhattan Theatre Club with Jeff Daniels and Alison Pill. Whether that ends up happening or not remains to be seen, but I'll definitely be reporting back more often about my theatrical experiences now that things are heating up.

Most exciting is the fact that I got my ticket for The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion starring Vanessa Redgrave and directed by David Hare for May 2! Second row. Jealous? You should be.

Tata for now.

"Dying City," "Prelude to a Kiss"

So, I've been quite busy lately, between midterms and an unusually busy week and finishing up the second of my short stories for my creative writing class.

Thursday was my busiest day in a while, and I managed to fit in a trip to Dying City at Lincoln Center Theatre. I had heard good things about the play, and the New York Times review was wonderful. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The play is by Christopher Shinn, 31, whose plays, have already received a good number of productions both in London and in New York (this play originated at the Royal Court in London). The play is about the widow of a soldier in Iraq, played by Rebecca Brooksher, who is visited, a year after her husband's death, by her husband's identical twin brother, played by Pablo Schreiber, who also plays her husband in flashback segments. The play utilizes time and space excellently within the confines of the set: a sparse apartment on a slowly revolving turntable.

Though the conceit may sound a bit heavy-handed or cliched, Shinn manages to sidestep the possible pitfalls with a particularly good sense for the spaces between people where things are left unsaid. The actors, as well, manage to imbue their characters with the necessary tautness of grieving people without bypassing an occasional lapse into wistfulness and remembrance.

All in all, it's a play I recommend highly by a playwright I'll be keeping an eye on.

Last Thursday, I went to see Prelude to a Kiss by Craig Lucas, the latest show at Roundabout Theatre Company. It's a show that the company put into production at breakneck speed after their proposed production of Harold Pinter's Old Times starring Alan Rickman collapsed.

Anyway, I had no idea what the play was about, and the only cast member I really recognized was John Mahoney, so I went into the show with an unusually open mind.

All in all, I really enjoyed it! I knew it was a romantic comedy, and it was actually ultimately a lot funnier than I had expected based on the rather dour poster art. The play is about a young couple (played with excellent chemistry by Annie Parisse and Alan Tudyk), who, after a strange event at their wedding, experience an unusual supernatural occurrence that leads them on an unexpected emotional (and amusingly physical) journey.

John Mahoney as the Old Man (pictured at left), a mysterious character within the play, gives the most touching of the evening's performances and deserves particular recognition.

What I liked most about the play was that I didn't quite know what to expect and that it managed to include a hopeful ending, while remaining honest and avoiding saccharinity. It seemed like the perfect show to see on a date or if one's in the mood for something a little lighter.