Punk Rock *

When I saw two previous plays by Simon Stephens (Harper Regan [http://bobs-theater-blog.blogspot.com/2012/09/harper-regan.html] and Bluebird [http://bobs-theater-blog.blogspot.com/2011/08/bluebird.html}) at the Atlantic Theater, I thought his work was moderately interesting. When I saw his adaptation for the stage of Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time [http://bobs-theater-blog.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-curious-incident-of-dog-in-night.html], I thought his work was brilliant. Therefore, I was looking forward to seeing the New York premiere of this 2009 drama, which received almost unanimous raves from the London critics. To say I was keenly disappointed with this MCC production would be a major understatement. Those who wish to avoid spoilers should stop reading here. One London critic described it as The History Boys meets Columbine, a comparison that is an insult to the former. Both plays are about the stress of English public (i.e. private) school students preparing for their A-levels, but all resemblance ends there. The teenagers in this play are all stereotypes: Bennett (Will Pullen), the bully; Cissy (Lilly Englert), his compliant girlfriend; Tanya (Annie Funke), overweight and usually overlooked; Chadwick (Noah Robbins), the bullied nerd; Lilly (Colby Minifie), the new girl with a dark secret; William (Douglas Smith), the troubled boy with a casual relationship to the truth who wants to date her; and Nicholas (Pico Alexander), the handsome jock that she prefers. The author puts them together in a pressure cooker and we wait to see who will explode. The final scene introduces the lone adult character, Dr. Harvey, played by David Greenspan, who, for once, manages to avoid his usual excesses. In a country where school shootings were not almost weekly occurrences, perhaps the play seemed more profound. For me it seemed merely extremely unpleasant and tedious. I will grant that the young cast is very good. The dialect coach Stephen Gabis got excellent results from them. Director Trip Cullman has not helped the play by tarting it up with the actors running around in animal masks between scenes. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes; no intermission (wise decision).

If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet *

The title of this new play by the award-winning young British playwright Nick Payne could easily be my answer to the question "Is there a unifying theme that holds this play together?" The consequences of neglecting family for career is central, but the parents are both so emotionally constipated that it is unclear whether they are withholding affection for their daughter or simply have none to give. Brian F. O'Byrne plays George, a self-absorbed academic out to save the world from global warming with a book on carbon footprints. Michelle Gomez plays his wife Fiona, an unpopular teacher at the school where their overweight teenaged daughter Anna, played by Annie Funke, is regularly bullied. Jake Gyllenhaal plays George's prodigal brother Terry, a free spirit just returned from a long trip he took to get over a love affair that ended badly, who forms a bond with Anna. O'Byrne and Funke are excellent. I am no judge of British dialects, but Gyllenhaal's often impenetrable accent had no traces of American. At least every third word of his dialog is the F word. Gomez's character is underwritten, so she doesn't have a lot to work with. In this Roundabout production, directed by Michael Longhurst, now in previews at the Laura Pels, the scenic design by Beowulf Boritt literally upstages the play. Before the play begins, a curtain of rain separates the stage from the audience and center stage is occupied by a pile of household furnishings. As the play progresses, the actors grab the furnishings they need for the next scene. At scene's end they toss them into the trough. Is this a metaphor for the wastefulness of our way of life? About 2/3 of the way through the play, an onstage bathtub overflows and the stage is inundated in 3 or 4 inches of water. The actors pay no heed as they slosh around in it for the play's final 30 minutes. Does this represent our heedlessness to the rising sea levels that global warming will bring or is it just a distraction to hide the play's thinness? Decide for yourself. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes without intermission.

Silence! The Musical **

Please click on the title to see the entire review.
When the "unauthorized parody" of Silence of the Lambs now playing at PS 122 turned up on TDF, I decided to give it a try. I knew it would be raunchy, but it was even coarser than I expected. I would blush to repeat the name of Dr. Lecter's big number. Wine and beer are available to bring into the theater -- with a few drinks, it might be more entertaining. As it was, I was growing weary of it long before its 90 minutes were over. The uncomfortable seats didn't help. An earlier version ran for two hours; I was glad I didn't have to sit through that. Jenn Harris's Clarice Starling is delightfully over the top and David Garrison is fine as Hannibal Lecter. The rest of the cast is good too: Annie Funke and Deidre Goodwin can really belt out a song. Ashlee Dupré and Callan Bergmann's dance number as the dream versions of Clarice and Hannibal is hilarious. The songs by Jon and Al Kaplan are serviceable at best. Hunter Bell's book manages to hit most of the film's highlights. Christopher Gattelli's choreography was consistently clever. He also directed. Unless you are a big fan of the movie and have a high tolerance for raunch as well as camp, this is one to skip.