Rotterdam

B

Brits Off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters is presenting Jon Brittain's Olivier-winning play about the effects of a transgender transition both on the person involved as well as on their relationships with others. Alice (Alice McCarthy) and Fiona (Anna Martine Freeman) are two English lesbians who have been living and working in Rotterdam for seven years. The dour, buttoned-up Alice is trying to summon the courage to come out to her parents via email, when Fiona announces that she henceforth wants to be known as Adrian. Josh (Ed Eales-White), Fiona/Adrian’s good-natured brother, who was Alice’s boyfriend before she met Fiona, is supportive of his sibling’s decision. Alice, however, has trouble figuring out what it all means, especially about her own gender identity. Lelani (Ellie Morris) is a free-spirited young Dutch colleague of Alice’s who takes a shine to her. As Fiona transitions to Adrian, tensions increase. Freeman is extremely moving in a second-act scene when Adrian is overwhelmed by events. My main problem with the play is that Alice is such an uptight sourpuss that it is hard to understand why anyone would want her. Also, there are plot developments near the end that seemed forced. At 2 1/2 hours, the play seemed a bit bloated. The clever, attractive set by Ellan Parry makes maximum use of a small stage; the costumes, especially for Lelani, are vivid. Donnacadh O’Brian directed. Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes including intermission.

Iphigenia in Splott

B

Every Spring, 59E59 Theaters bring us a series of imports from the UK under the rubric Brits off Broadway. This one-person play by Gary Owen originated in Cardiff and then had an acclaimed run in London. The main reason to see it is the electric performance by Sophie Melville as Effie, an angry young woman from Splott, a working-class neighborhood of Cardiff. Effie, whose means of support is unclear, alternates between binges and hangovers and describes herself as the kind of person you cross the street to avoid. I wish we learned more about what led to her self-defeating lifestyle. Effie stops spewing invective long enough to tell us the story of a recent affair with a wounded veteran that made her let down her guard long enough to hope for a better life. Of course it turned out badly. Effie pays a terrible price but acts nobly when she has an opportunity to seek redress. I was disappointed that the play morphed from a fascinating character study to a screed against social welfare cuts, even though, as a cautionary tale, it is certainly timely on this side of the pond as well. My other reservation is the difficulty I had making out some of the words because of the thick Welsh accent and rapid speech. Designer Hayley Grindle and lighting designer Rachel Mortimer have come up with a striking set that features a series of fluorescent lights that resemble a venetian blind aptly falling into disarray. Rachel O’Riordan’s direction is straightforward. The title’s comparison of Effie to Iphigenia is a bit of a stretch. Running time: 80 minutes; no intermission.

Maestro ** C-

Perhaps I am becoming jaded or maybe I just have been making bad choices lately. In any case, for the third time this week, I found myself surrounded by an audience having a far better time than I was. Onstage at 59E59 Theatre A was Hershey Felder performing as Leonard Bernstein. Apparently Felder has made a career out of using his pianistic and acting skills to create one-man theater pieces about such composers as Beethoven, Grieg and Gershwin. Bernstein does not fit neatly into this  group as he was more renowned as conductor than composer, a never-ending sore spot for him. Felder’s approach to his life is mainly chronological and gamely attempts to cover many aspects: conductor, educator, social activist, bisexual and flawed husband. The early scenes with his father, speaking with a heavy Yiddish accent, were embarrassingly stereotypical. Were it not for the lavish production featuring an impressive set by François-Pierre Couture and projections by Christopher Ash, I might have thought I was attending an enrichment program at a home for elderly Jews. The musical clips were frustratingly brief with more music by other composers and less by Bernstein than I would have expected. I was certainly surprised that the longest and most prominent excerpt was from Wagner’s Liebestod. There was a brief moment near the end, in which Bernstein lashes out at the world, that gave me a sense of how much more powerful the piece could have been. Joel Zwick (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) directed. Running time: one hour 45 minutes; no intermission.

Bears in Space ** C-

This cult hit by the Irish theater group Collapsing Horse has arrived at 59E59 Theatres after sold-out runs in Dublin, Edinburgh and London. The four actors — Jack Gleeson, whose Game of Thrones credentials were no doubt a draw for many; Aaron Heffernan, who designed the puppets; Cameron Macaulay, who wrote the music and Eoghan Quinn, who wrote the script, are all appealing performers. The deliberately scruffy puppets and makeshift props are appropriate to the playful spirit. The clever staging includes animation techniques as well as Indonesian puppetry. The story of two ursine astronauts who have a misadventure on the planet Metrotopia struck me as less entertaining than it was meant to be. Douglas Adams did it better in his galactic hitchhiker series. Part of the problem is the theater. Even though there are only seven rows of seats, the action seemed remote and hard to decipher from my seat. I image it was much more effective in some tiny fringe venue. The audience was loving every minute of it, so I felt that I was the odd man out. Dan Colley directed. Running time: 75 minutes, no intermission.

Butler **** A

Kudos to 59E59 Theaters for bringing this worthwhile production by the New Jersey Repertory Company, based in Long Branch, to New York. What playwright Richard Strand has written is an unlikely blend of biography, Civil War history, drama and comedy that is both entertaining and informative. Major General Benjamin Butler (Ames Adamson) is an actual historical figure, whose long and varied career includes the incident depicted in the play. As a newly minted Union officer sent to take command of Fort Monroe in recently seceded Virginia, Butler must decide what to do with three runaway slaves who have arrived at the fort seeking sanctuary. The first scene, an extended exchange between Butler and his hapless adjutant Lieutenant Kelly (Benjamin Sterling), may initially appear to go on too long, but it cleverly sets up most of what follows. The leader of the runaway slaves is Shepard Mallory (John G. Williams), a man who has paid dearly for his habit of running off at the mouth. When Mallory pleads his case with Butler, the two develop an unexpected kinship. Butler tries to find a way to get around the Fugitive Slaves Act so he will not have to hand over Mallory and the other two slaves to Major Cary (David Sitler), the prickly Confederate officer who has been sent to claim them. It hardly seems like promising material for comedy, but the play is very funny. The four characters are vividly drawn and well acted by the cast, all holdovers from the original production. Jessica L. Parks’s attractive set for General Butler’s office looks authentic, as do Patricia E. Doherty’s costumes. Joseph Discher’s direction is seamless. It adds up to a surprisingly enjoyable experience. Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes including intermission.

Hero's Welcome ***

The annual Brits Off Broadway season is back at 59E59 Theatre. The prodigiously prolific Alan Ayckbourn is represented by the U.S. premiere of his 79th play as well as an evening of older short plays which I will review next week.. One of the pleasures of an Ayckbourn season is becoming reacquainted with fine actors who have appeared in previous seasons. This year three actors who graced the 2014 season have returned. Richard Stacey plays Murray, an acclaimed military hero whose return to his home town after 17 years wreaks general havoc. Elizabeth Boag plays Alice, the town’s mayor, whom Murray jilted at the altar. Russell Dixon is her much older husband Derek, a model train fanatic. They are joined by two other stalwarts of the Stephen Joseph Theatre (SJT) of Scarborough, Ayckbourn’s artistic home — Charlotte Harwood doubling as Kara, the abused wife of Murray’s old friend Brad and as Simone, her daughter, and Evelyn Hoskins as Madrababacascabuna (Baba), the young war bride Murray has brought home. Stephen Billington, although an apparent newcomer to SJT, fits in seamlessly as the toxic Brad. Murray’s return is not welcomed by those he upset long ago; nor is his plan to remodel and reopen the pub once owned by his father but now the property of the town council and a candidate for demolition. Past events are explained more fully in a way that generates compassion for the characters. Designer Michael Holt’s set design, greatly assisted by Jason Taylor’s excellent lighting, delineates four distinct areas — a BBC studio, the living room of a mansion, a generic hotel room and a large kitchen with a model train running through it. The play is plot-heavy and would benefit from a bit of tightening. While it does not represent Ayckbourn at his best, it nevertheless offers much to enjoy. As is his custom, the playwright directed. Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes including intermission.

Ayckbourn Ensemble ****

All praise to the folks at the Brits off Broadway festival at 59E59 Theater for bringing us three works by Alan Ayckbourn (two world premieres and a New York premiere) performed in repertory by a superb ensemble of 11 actors from the Stephen Joseph Theatre of Scarborough, the company that Ayckbourn directed for 37 years. I know that I have said on other occasions that playwrights should not direct their own plays, but I hereby make a notable exception for Ayckbourn. After working with a core of the same actors for many years, he knows how to get exactly the right tone from them. I have seen other productions that were marred by overemphatic acting either allowed or encouraged by their directors. 

Farcicals ***

Realizing that only 7 of the 11 actors appeared in both the other plays, Ayckbourn whipped up a pair of one-act farces for the remaining four. “Chloe with Love” and “The Kidderminster Affair” share the same characters, two rather mismatched couples — Penny (Elizabeth Boag) and Reggie (Kim Wall) plus Teddy (Bill Champion) and Lottie (Sarah Stanley). The first shows Lottie’s hilarious attempts to stoke her husband’s interest. The latter describes a hysterical attempt to hide an adulterous indiscretion. Both are sheer froth, but the word play and physical humor in the second play rise to a high level of inspiration. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes including intermission.

Playing with time and space is a frequent feature of Ayckbourn’s work. We see it again here, both in “Time of My Life” from 1992 and “Arrivals and Departures,” his new play (#76). 

Time of My Life ***

We meet the Stratton family, parents Gerry (Russell Dixon) and Laura (Sarah Parks), their elder son Glyn (Richard Stacey) and his wife Stephanie (Emily Pithon), who have just recently reconciled after a separation, and their younger son Adam (James Powell) and his new girlfriend Maureen (Rachel Caffrey) as they gather at the family’s favorite restaurant, a vaguely Middle Eastern place, for a boozy celebration of Laura’s birthday. After the initial party scene, the play fractures into three strands: we follow Gerry and Laura as they remain at the restaurant, we move a year or two into the future with Glyn and Stephanie, and we go backwards in time with Adam and Maureen to their first meeting. All the action takes place in the restaurant. An added touch is that one actor (Ben Porter) plays the restaurant’s owner and all its diverse waiters. We end up where we started as the birthday party begins. It sounds gimmicky, but it works surprisingly well except for a scene in the second act that goes on much too long. The play’s theme seems to be “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.” Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes including intermission.

Arrivals and Departures ***

This new play is deliberately less comic than the others. It combines a satiric look at bureaucratic ineptitude with the recollections of two disparate characters, each of whom has been subject to betrayal. A military special forces group led by Quentin (Bill Champion) has concocted a hare-brained scheme to catch a terrorist at a rail terminal in London. Disguised as ordinary people, the group ineptly rehearse their roles before the train arrives. Ez, short for Esme, (Elizabeth Boag) a sullen soldier who is awaiting court martial, is assigned to babysit a chatty older man, Barry (Kim Wall), a traffic warden from Yorkshire who can possibly confirm the suspect’s identity. Awaiting the train’s arrival, Ez looks back on the personal history that has turned her into an edgy, mistrustful person. Much of the second act is a mirror image of the first, except that this time it is Barry who reminisces about his unhappy past. The plan to capture the terrorist does not end happily. I found the ending a bit jarring. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes including intermission.

The ensemble is so uniformly fine that it almost seems unfair to single out anyone. Nevertheless, I will mention that Boag, Champion, Parks, Porter and Wall made especially strong impressions. Jan Bee Brown's set designs for all three plays are simple but effective. 

You may wonder why I rated Ayckbourn Ensemble higher than any of its components. In this case the whole IS greater than the sum of its parts. Seeing the three pieces together in one day increased my admiration of the playwright/director and the superb ensemble cast. 

Blink ***

If you are in the mood for something a bit different, head to 59E59 for this latest entry in their Brits Off Broadway festival. This off-beat love story by Phil Porter has been skillfully crafted, creatively staged, and, most importantly, superbly performed by two fine actors. Sophie (Lizzy Watts) and Jonah (Thomas Pickles) are two socially awkward young people for whom London is a very lonely place. Sophie lives above Jonah as his landlord, but they have never met. Impulsively, she sends him the screen of a baby monitor she had used to look after her late father. He has no idea who sent it, but soon becomes addicted to watching the woman on the screen. When he accidentally finds out who she is, he begins following her everywhere and she pretends not to notice. For a good part of the play, the two address the audience rather than each other. They also play other characters, including a talkative human relations officer and a German conceptual artist, using microphones when they portray them. A good deal of the dialogue at first seems irrelevant, e.g. a detailed plot summary of the soap opera they both watch, but the haziness of the border between background and foreground is part of the off-kilter nature of the play. When an unexpected circumstance leads the two to actually meet, they must learn that a face-to-face relationship is much harder than one based on exhibitionism, voyeurism and stalking. The set design by Hannah Clark, combining generic office furniture with a sylvan backdrop and a grassy surface is both attractive and effective. Her choice of pale beige costumes with sky-blue socks for both actors is apt. Joe Murphy’s direction is admirable. A word of caution: the two friends I ran into afterwards did not share my enthusiasm. Running time: 77 minutes, no intermission.

Simon Green: So, This Then Is Life ***

As part of its Brits Off Broadway festival, British actor Simon Green and his musical director David Shrubsole are appearing in this cabaret-style theater piece, cleverly crafted from a melange of song, poem and spoken word. The eclectic material runs the gamut from Noel Coward to Stephen Sondheim, Walt Whitman to Maya Angelou,  M.F.K. Fisher to Tennessee Williams. The theme is the advice a middle-aged man would give his 21-year-old self were he able to. Green's engaging presentation overcomes a sometimes pinched voice and a wobbly pitch. All in all, it's a pleasant way to spend 80 minutes.

Harbor **

(Please click on the title to see the complete review.)
In this Primary Stages production at 59E59, the harbor is Sag Harbor, where architect Ted (Paul Anthony Stewart) and his somewhat younger husband Kevin (Randy Harrison), a would-be writer, live a seemingly idyllic, unencumbered life. This idyl is punctured by the unexpected arrival in a live-in van of Kevin's long-absent sister Donna (Erin Cummings), a single mother who fancies herself a singer, and her preternaturally wise 15-year-old daughter Lottie (Alexis Molnar), who has a taste for Edith Wharton and Virginia Woolf. Early on, Ted has a terrific rant about his hatred of young children and mothers who display an undeserved sense of entitlement. His feelings do not deter Donna from her mission of manipulating her brother into persuading Ted that they should raise her forthcoming child so she can go off and get a job singing on a cruise ship. (The fact that she claims it is too late for an abortion when she is not even showing the slightest baby bump perplexed me.) Their one-night visit turns into a few months. When Ted learns of Donna's plan and Kevin's reluctance to turn her down, he and Kevin have a gripping conversation that lays bare Ted's true perception of Kevin and of the underlying nature of their relationship. A new equilibrium emerges. The play touches on many interesting topics, such as peer pressure on gay couples to parent, the fragility of equilibrium in a relationship, and the dangers of a life based on illusion. Unfortunately, the tone is wildly uneven: playwright Chad Beguelin seems uncertain whether he is writing a sitcom, a soap opera or a serious drama. When the snappy one-liners recede and the tone turns more serious in the second act, it is a bit unsettling. The actors acquit themselves honorably with the sometimes unconvincing dialogue. Andrew Jackness's scenic design cleverly has the living room walls covered in a faint pastel representation of the house's exterior, but the furnishings looked a bit sparse for this couple. Candice Donnelly's costumes are apt. Director Mark Lamos keeps things moving briskly. (Something strange happened about 10 minutes into the play. An amplified voice instructed the actors to stop while they traced the source of a hearing aid that was creating interference. After a few minutes, the play resumed with the actors repeating most of one scene. It was an unfortunate intrusion). Running time: 2 hours, including intermission.

Cornelius **

(Please click on the title to see the complete review.)
This Finborough Theatre production of J.B. Priestly's virtually forgotten 1935 play now at 59E59 in their Brits Off Broadway series received uniformly glowing reviews in London and a rave from the New York Times. This story of a small aluminium importing firm struggling unsuccessfully to stay afloat during the Depression revolves around partner James Cornelius (Alan Cox), who puts on a brave face to keep up the morale of his staff and fend off the creditors until his partner Robert Murrison (Jamie Newall) returns from an extended business trip that is the firm's last hope for survival. Longtime bookkeeper Biddle (the excellent Col Farrell) is a man who loves his work and manages to maintain a positive view of life. Secretary Miss Porrin (Pandora Colin) is an embittered spinster with an unrequited love for Cornelius. Lawrence (David Ellis) is frustrated by his dead-end five-year stint as office boy. Judy Evison (the lovely Emily Barber), a feisty typist filling in temporarily for her sister, elicits Miss Porrin's hatred and strikes a long-dormant chord in Cornelius. Vendors with increasing degrees of desperation visit the office to peddle their wares. Murrison returns from his trip half-crazed and broken. When the play concentrates on how different people deal with adversity, it is on solid ground. Unfortunately, it too often resorts to workplace cliches and, near the end, a very unlikely coincidence. I did not find Cornelius, at least as played by Cox, a convincing character; his various traits did not cohere. It was a pleasure to see an fine ensemble of 12 sharing the stage, but the play ultimately lacked bite. David Woodhead's set and costumes are excellent. Sam Yates's direction is assured. To call Cornelius a forgotten masterpiece would be a gross exaggeration. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes, including intermission.

The Anderson Twins Play the Fabulous Dorseys **

(Please click on the title to see the complete review.)
Once I caught on that the word "play" in the title means "perform the music of" and not "portray," I relaxed and enjoyed this musical tribute to the Dorsey brothers at 59E59. Pete and Will Anderson are blond, handsome 25-year old identical twins, whose performances I greatly enjoyed when they were students in the Juilliard Jazz program. For the occasion, Stage C has been turned into a night club, complete with red fringed lamps. You can buy drinks at the bar and bring them to your table. About 20 swing standards orchestrated for sextet are interspersed with clips from the sappy 1947 biopic, an amusing clip from "What's My Line?" and some rather lame banter. It's hardly a theater piece, but far be it from me to complain when the music and the musicians are so good. And it's a bargain at $25. In addition to the Andersons on saxophone, clarinet and flute, the group includes Jon-Erik Kellso on trumpet, Ehud Asherie on piano, Kevin Dorn on drums and Clovis Nicolas on bass. Since Tommy Dorsey was most notably associated with the trombone, it's puzzling that there is none here. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes including intermission.

Motherhood Out Loud ***

This new offering at Primary Stages, a collection of 20 sketches, some funny, some sad, by 14 playwrights, some well-known, some not, makes for a very pleasant way to spend 90 minutes. Each sketch deals with some aspect of motherhood, from giving birth to being a great-grandmother. Some of the sketches that most impressed me dealt with an autistic son's mother trying to be helpful on his first date, a mother answering her adopted Chinese daughter's questions, a mother trying to deal with her young son's desire to dress as Queen Esther for Purim, a soldier's mother trying to allay her fears, and an adult son facing the first signs of his mother's memory loss. The quartet of actors -- Mary Bacon, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Randy Graff and James Lecsene -- are all excellent. (I will confess that I always welcome the opportunity to see Ms. Graff onstage.) The large colorful squares of the Mondrian-like backdrop by Rachel Hauck turn into screens for Emily Hubley's whimsical animations and Jan Hartley's projections. Lisa Peterson's direction is seamless. Susan Rose and Joan Stein conceived the project. Admittedly, some of the material seemed cliched, but for me its sincerity made up for its familiarity. I'm sure it will be eagerly performed by theater groups around the country. I hope it finds its audience here in New York.

The Best Is Yet To Come: The Music of Cy Coleman ***

31 songs in 85 minutes -- that's what this lively revue at 59E59 has to offer. A strong cast of six -- David Burnham (who is new to me), Sally Mayes, Howard McGillin, Billy Stritch (who also serves as pianist and music director), Lillias White and Rachel York, backed by eight musicians, provide a whirlwind tour of Coleman's music, including such well-known songs as "I've Got Your Number," "Big Spender" and "Witchcraft." Since David Zippel directed, it's no surprise that 8 of the songs chosen are songs for which he wrote the lyrics, which makes the selection somewhat unrepresentative. Douglas Schmidt's sleek recreation of a supper club bandstand looks great, but doesn't give the singers much room to move around. Lorin Lattaro's choreography makes the best of this limitation. The band was wonderful, but occasionally drowned out the vocalists. The highlight of the evening was Lillias White's rendition of her big number from The Life, "The Oldest Profession." Each of the singers gets a chance to shine, but no one else comes even close to her. Instead of being disappointed that it wasn't better, I'm grateful that it got produced.