Sorry **

The third installment in Richard Nelson's series of four plays about the Apple family of Rhinebeck, NY is now at the Public Theater. The first play, "That Hopey Changey Thing," was set on Election Day of 2010.; the second, "Sweet and Sad," on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The current play takes place on Election Day, 2012. Once again we meet the four middle-aged Apple siblings and their uncle. Barbara (Maryann Plunkett), the never-married eldest, and Marian (Laila Robbins), who has moved in with her after separating from her husband, are looking after Uncle Benjamin (Jon Devries), a retired actor of some note, who has suffered a heart attack and a subsequent loss of memory and inhibitions. Jane (J. Smith-Cameron), a writer, and Richard (Jay O. Sanders), a lawyer, have come up from Manhattan to provide moral support on the day that Uncle Benjamin will be moved to a care facility. These four intelligent people spend two early morning hours discussing life in general and the state of the nation. That's about it. Nelson may be our most Chekhovian playwright, but a Chekhov play is action-packed by comparison. Without the superb ensemble acting of this fine cast, it would not be worth anyone's time. After watching them create these vivid characters in the two earlier plays, it was a pleasure to see them together again. (I missed Shuler Hensley's character, absent from this play.) That pleasure began to wear a little thin after the first hour. At an hour, 45 minutes without intermission, the play did not sustain my interest.  I doubt that anyone who has not seen at least one of the previous plays would find it worthwhile. Nelson also directed.

Sweet and Sad **

Last November, the Public Theater presented Richard Nelson's play "The Hopey Changey Thing," which was set on and opened on Election Day 2010. Now we have Nelson's "Sweet and Sad" (the title comes from a line in Whitman's "The Wound Dresser") which takes place on and opens on 9/11/11. In both plays, we visit the three adult Apple daughters (Barbara, Marian and Jane) their brother Richard, their uncle Benjamin, and Jane's partner Tim at Barbara's home in Rhinebeck. This time out, they are gathered to attend a 9/11 commemoration put on by Barbara's students, at which Benjamin, a retired actor with amnesia, will give a recitation. As the Apples eat supper, the conversation ebbs and flows, alternating between the personal and the public spheres, with the topic of 9/11 often rising to the surface. As in last year's play, nothing much happens. Although seeing the earlier play is not essential, it did help to flesh out the characters. The excellent cast from last year (see my November 2010 review for their names) inhabits their roles even more fully. While I admire Nelson for undertaking this series of plays reflecting current events through the prism of the Apple family, I didn't find this instalment as satisfying as the first. Nelson also directed. Running time: 110 minutes; no intermission.

That Hopey Changey Thing ***

Richard Nelson's latest effort, now in a production directed by the playwright at The Public Theater, could serve as a bookend to Lisa Kron's "In the Wake," which is also playing there. While Kron's work chronicles the life of New York lefties in the W. era, Nelson portrays a liberal family's dinner two years into the Obama era on election night 2010. The four grown Apple siblings gather at the Rhinebeck home of the unmarried sister who is caring for their uncle, an actor who is suffering from loss of memory after a heart attack. The divorced sister has brought along her current interest, who is also an actor, to meet the family. During the early scenes, we pick up on the complicated relationships that unite and divide the family. When the conversation turns to politics, everyone voices opinions that arise naturally from what we have learned about them. Noone's behavior escapes criticism. The best that can be said is that some politicians are less bad than others. Not much happens, nothing is resolved, yet the experience is mildly bracing, mainly because of the superb ensemble acting, The entire cast -- Jon Devries, Shuler Hensley, Maryann Plunkett, Laila Robbins, Jay O. Sanders and J. Smith-Cameron -- is topnotch.