Grace ***

(Please click on the title to see the full review.)
If you want to see four fine actors in a satisfyingly complex play, don't wait too long to get a ticket for this limited run comedy/drama by Craig Wright, now in previews at the Cort Theatre. Steve and Sara (Paul Rudd and Kate Arrington) have recently moved to central Florida to open the first of a projected chain of biblically-themed hotels. Sam (Michael Shannon), their neighbor in the adjacent condo, is recovering from an auto accident that left him disfigured and his fiancée dead. Karl (Ed Asner), the crusty German immigrant who is the exterminator for the condo complex, has a dark episode in his past. Steve can't resist the opportunity to deliver a sales pitch, whether it is for God or for real estate. Stay-at-home housewife Sara is lonely and neglected. The play starts with a bang and, after a freeze frame, flashes back to describe how events reached this point. The ties between the occupants of the two apartments are intensified by Beowulf Boritt's clever, elegantly simple set that uses the same space to represent both condos simultaneously. (I now forgive him for the set that overpowers "If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet.") Dexter Bullard's direction is excellent. At times I thought the play had more style than substance, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes without intermission.

Mistakes Were Made **

Michael Shannon seems to thrive at the Barrow Street Theatre. First in "Bug," then in "Our Town," and now in Craig Wright's new comedy, Shannon grabs your attention and doesn't let go. "Mistakes Were Made" is the title of a play about the French Revolution by a new playwright that small-time producer Felix Artifex (Shannon) is trying to bring to New York. During the play's 90-minutes, his plans spectacularly unravel in a series of phone calls from a Hollywood star who would like the play rewritten for him, the unwilling playwright, his agent, the drivers of a 10-truck convoy of sheep in Iraq (don't ask!) and various other nemeses who lead Felix to a meltdown. Except for messages from Felix's secretary (Mierka Girten) and a few one-way conversations with his overfed pet fish (controlled by puppeteer Sam Deutsch), Felix's half of the phone calls is the whole play. The fish is apt because making fun of show biz types is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel. A brief effort near the end to supply Felix with a back story that would make his behavior more comprehensible mostly misfires. The humor wore thin for me, but Shannon's performance was dazzling. Dexter Bullard directed.