‘PRIMA FACIE’: Jodie Comer. Photo: Bronwen Sharp.

PRIMA FACIE
Written by Suzie Miller
Directed by Justin Martin
Through July 2, 2023
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street

(212-239-6200), www.PrimaFacieplay.com

By David NouNou

To fully appreciate the play Prima Facie, one must understand the definition. The legal term prima facie “refers to a case in which pre-trial evidence was reviewed by a judge and determined to be sufficient to warrant the trial.”

Tessa (Jodie Comer) is a criminal defense barrister in the U.K, or “lawyer” as we say in the U.S. From the beginning, she describes in detail the thrill she gets when prosecuting a case and how she meticulously outlines the extraction of truths from a defendant and entraps them. She goes back to her early days in law school where she was one of 200 students in this elite class and being informed by the professor “look to your left, look to your right, one of you will not make it till the end.” Now, we get a fuller picture of who Tessa is and the determination and the love she has for the law.

She takes a case prosecuting a female rape victim, and with the loopholes in the legal system, she victimizes the woman in the case. She gets involved with a fellow barrister—the date they go on, the excessive drinking, and then inviting him back to her apartment, and what ensues. In the aftermath, she goes to report it to the police. After the incident, she finds herself in a position where the tables have reversed on her where she is the victim that is being prosecuted. She now feels the agony and shame of victimization and how the law is structured.

Being a solo play, the show rests on Jodie Comer. The performance is a revelation. She peels off layer after layer, whether in her triumphant moments or in her deepest despair. She never goes after our sympathy. She is a headstrong woman and proud of her accomplishments as a barrister. She doesn’t ask for pity but to right the wrongs in the law. Only an accomplished actress of infinite dimension can accomplish this feat, and Jodie Comer is that actress.

The main problem I had with the play is the direction of Justin Martin. There are so many sound effects from the beginning—with beating hearts to loud music—all of which are more of a distraction and jarring than complementing the play or Ms. Comer’s performance. When dealing with a serious subject of rape, less “noise” would have made sensitive moments more compelling and less distracting.

We have seen so many of these cases in America; this could be in any part of the world. The play isn’t just about rape victims and the horrors they endure. It is also about the unjust criminal law system and the reforming the system needs; to have women be heard and not allowing men to go free due to the loopholes in the law.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 27, 2023
Reviewed at April 26, 2023 press performance.

‘PRIMA FACIE’: Jodie Comer. Photo: Bronwen Sharp.

‘PRIMA FACIE’: Jodie Comer. Photo: Bronwen Sharp.

‘PRIMA FACIE’: Jodie Comer. Photo: Bronwen Sharp.

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NEW YORK – Producers Seaview, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, with Jeremy O. Harris and BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), are thrilled to announce that the sold-out and highly acclaimed BAM production of Lorraine Hansberry’s The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, starring Oscar Isaac (making his Broadway debut) and Rachel Brosnahan, will transfer to Broadway this season. Directed by Anne Kauffman, this strictly limited engagement will begin performances on Tuesday, April 25 for 80 performances only. Opening night – the final opening of this Broadway season – is set for Thursday, April 27, at the James Earl Jones Theatre.

To purchase tickets, please visit Telecharge.com.

Rachel Brosnahan. Photo: Courtesy of OMDKC.

Welcome to 1960s Greenwich Village, where loudly proclaimed progressive dreams wage war with reality. This razor-sharp tragicomical satire of “astonishing force” (The Chicago Tribune) invites us into the apartment of Sidney and Iris Brustein and the diverse and passionate social circle that inhabits it. As a rapidly changing world brings uninvited cynicism to their door, the Brusteins fight to keep their marriage – with all its crackling wit, passion, and casual cruelty – from being the final sacrifice to Sidney’s ideals. The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window debuted on Broadway in 1964, on the heels of Hansberry’s meteoric debut with A Raisin in the Sun (1959) and shortly before her death at the age of 34. This will be its first time on Broadway in more than 50 years. Its run at BAM welcomed new audiences and broke every house record at the Harvey Theater. This is the first BAM-produced production to transfer to Broadway since The Gospel at Colonus, 35 years ago.

The late playwright Lorraine Hansberry. Photo: Courtesy of OMDKC.

“This production, directed by Anne Kauffman and originally produced and nurtured by David Binder and BAM, is a celebration of the radical artistic vision of Lorraine Hansberry at the zenith of her art making.” — Joi Gresham, Literary Trustee, Estate of Lorraine Hansberry Joining Isaac (Sidney Brustein) and Brosnahan (Iris Brustein) is the complete cast from the BAM production, including Gus Birney (Gloria Parodus), Julian De Niro (Alton Scales), Glenn Fitzgerald (David Ragin), Andy Grotelueschen (Wally O’Hara), Miriam Silverman (Mavis Parodus Bryson), Raphael Nash Thompson (Max).

The understudy company features Joey Auzenne, Katya Campbell, Gregory Connors, and Brontë England Nelson. Download headshots HERE. The creative team includes dots (Scenic Design), Brenda Abbandandolo (Costume Design), John Torres (Lighting Design), Bray Poor (Sound Design), Leah Loukas (Wig Design), Arminda Thomas (Dramaturg), Kate Wilson (Voice Coach), Sonya Tayeh (Movement Director), Ralph Stan Lee (Stage Management). Casting is by Taylor Williams.

For more information, please visit www.thesignonbroadway.com

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LONDON— On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at the Royal Albert Hall, the West End production of Prima Facie won 2023 Olivier Awards for Best New Play and Best Actress for star Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”).

This month, Comer makes her Broadway debut in the solo play by Suzie Miller under the direction of Justin Martin (The Jungle). Previews for Prima Facie begin on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at the Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street). Opening night is Sunday, April 23, 2023. The production will play a limited 10-week engagement through Sunday, June 18, 2023. Tickets are available at Telecharge.com.

‘PRIMA FACIE’: Olivier Award winner Jodie Comer in the new drama starting Broadway previews on April 11, 2021. Photo: © Helen Murray.

For her performance in Prima Facie, which marked her West End debut, Comer also won the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress, the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Performer in a Play, the West End Debut Award from The Stage, and the BroadwayWorld UK/West End Award for Best Newcomer.

Playwright Suzie Miller also won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Play.

Tessa (Comer) is a thoroughbred. A young, brilliant barrister. She has worked her way up from working class origins to be at the top of her game; defending; cross examining and winning, until an unexpected event forces her to confront the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, burden of proof and morals diverge.

Prima Facie will work with The Schools Consent Project, a UK-based charity founded by Kate Parker that educates young people on issues surrounding consent and sexual assault. In addition to fundraising and donations, the production will work with the charity and various school groups to foster further understanding and education and extend the organization’s outreach in US schools.

Prima Facie will also work with Everyone’s Invited, a digital safe place for survivors to share their stories completely anonymously. Founded by Soma Sara, Everyone’s Invited provides many survivors a sense of relief, catharsis, empowerment, and gives them a feeling of community and hope.

The producers of Prima Facie recently announced that 10 tickets will be made available for $10 each at every performance via a weekly digital lottery. The $10 price point is inclusive of all fees. Beginning April 5, 2023, tickets priced at $10 for the following week’s performances will be released every Wednesday. For an opportunity to purchase a pair of seats at $10 each and to receive a weekly reminder to join the lottery, register via the Prima Facie website at primafacieplay.com/ticket-lottery

Jodie Comer won a 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for her mesmerizing performance as the psychopathic Russian assassin Villanelle in the BBC spy series, “Killing Eve.” She has also received two British Academy Television Awards for “Killing Eve” and “Help.” Her credits include the films The Last Duel and Free Guy, and the TV series, “Thirteen,” “The White Princess,” and “Doctor Foster: A Woman Scorned.” Upcoming roles include the films The End We Start From and The Bikeriders.

Jodie Comer shows off her Olivier Award for Best Actress at the Oliver Awards in London on April 2, 2023. Photo: Pamela Raith Photography.

Anglo-Australian playwright Suzie Miller is a former human rights and children’s rights lawyer. Prima Facie originally premiered in 2019 in Sydney where it won the 2020 Australian Writers’ Guild Award for Drama, the 2020 David Williamson Award for Outstanding Theatre Writing, and the 2020 prestigious Major Australian Writers’ Guild Award across all categories of theatre, film, and television.

Director Justin Martin is best known for his staging of The Jungle, which has played at the Young Vic, the West End, St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York, and in San Francisco. Other credits include Low Level Panic, Last Chance: A Plea For the Unaccompanied Children of Calais, The Nether, Fifty Two, Good Chance/No Chance, Harvey and Frieda, Street, The Kitchen and Skintight.

Prima Facie features an original score by Rebecca Lucy Taylor, who is better known as Self Esteem, and who completed her debut US Tour earlier this year for her new album, Prioritise Pleasure. She will embark on a UK tour in 2023, before returning to the US for a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on April 12, 2023. Her soundtrack album for Prima Facie is available on digital streaming services.

Dani Arlington, who understudied the role of Tessa for the West End production, will be the understudy for the Broadway engagement.

Set and costume design is by two-time Tony Award nominee Miriam Buether. Lighting design is by Drama Desk nominee Natasha Chivers. Sound design is by Drama Desk Award winners Ben & Max Ringham. Video is by William Williams for Treatment Studio.

Production Stage Manager is Diane DiVita. Assistant Stage Manager is Georgia Bird. Marketing is by Liz Furze for AKA. Production Management is by Liza Luxenberg for Aurora Productions. General management is by 101 Productions Ltd. Company manager is Katie Andrews. Associate Producer is Kerrise Stewart.

Jodie Comer, Dani Arlington and Georgia Bird are engaged with the support of Actors’ Equity Association.

Prima Facie is produced by Empire Street Productions, Elizabeth Armstrong, Barbara Broccoli, Caiola Productions, Kristin Caskey, Echo Lake Entertainment, Eilene Davidson Productions, Eleanor Lloyd Productions, Faliro House, FilmNation Entertainment, Dale Franzen, L.T.D. Productions Inc., Holly Anderson Levow, Stephanie P. McClelland, Olympus Theatricals, Rachel Sussman and The Shubert Organization.

Trigger Warning: As much as we don’t want to give away any spoilers, we recognize that this play can cause distress or trigger challenging emotions for some audience members. Prima Facie includes sensitive subject matters including reference to sex, violence, and sexual assault. For more details and resources, visit primafacieplay.com.

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‘TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’: Corey Hawkins & Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
Written by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Kenny Leon
Through January 15, 2023
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.topdogunderdog.com

By David NouNou

Revisiting Suzan-Lori Parks’ 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning play is what could be called a brilliant revival, thanks in large part to Ms. Parks’ rhythmic writing, superb acting by Corey Hawkins and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, laser focused direction to every detail by Kenny Leon, and a claustrophobic set by Arnulfo Maldonado, bring a sharper focus than I remember from the 2002 version at the sprawling stage of the Ambassador Theatre and looser direction by George C. Wolfe.

As with all brother tales, they all seem to hark back to the biblical story of Cain and Abel. However, in this version it isn’t the proverbial good against the bad brother but the constant shifting in roles brothers play in each other’s lives. The love/hate of who is topdog and who is underdog is always evolving and never gets a resolution.

Witness at the onset Booth (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), practicing his pitch with the three-card Monte hustle atop a cardboard box propped up by two milk cartons, which he hasn’t yet mastered: The language or the movements. Enter older brother Lincoln (Corey Hawkins), his face smeared with white greasepaint, wearing a long black coat, fake beard and a long stove pipe hat dressed as Abe Lincoln, for his new job at the arcade where people can shoot him with cap guns. He has taken this job to leave behind the dangerous life of a three-card Monte conman.

The brothers live in squalor in a small apartment. They were abandoned by their parents when they were teenagers, Booth being 13, and Lincoln being 16. Their parents gave them these ironic names. When each parent left, each parent gave each child $500 to use only for desperate measures. Booth saved his; Lincoln blew it all away immediately. They have depended on each other since they were teenagers; now they are in their 30s. They struggle to make a life; Booth tries to get Linc back into the Monte game and teach him the tricks. Lincoln doesn’t want to go through that again. Thus starts the friction. In this mix, Booth has a fixation on a girl he knew, Grace. He is always waiting for her to come back to him. Connie left Lincoln years ago; she couldn’t take the pressure. The conversation about the girls gets dicey at times.

Here is where Ms. Parks brings the magic into the play. She has set up the scene, and gives the brothers a free reign with her words. Whether the brothers are loving and have fond memories of their earlier years, or are they bitter rivals for a con game. Do they look after each other or do they just play each other? Ms. Parks keeps dishing out the power struggles. This is where, director, Kenny Leon seems to ramp up the flip/flop tension with each progressive scene.

Besides watching the play, the viewer depends heavily on what the actors can deliver, and this I can easily say, you won’t see two better performances this season than from Corey Hawkins and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Both of them are cunning and sly, good or bad, topdog or underdog, their performances are absolutely spellbinding and unforgettable.

It won’t take a crystal ball to predict the Tony Award winner for Best Drama Revival of 2023, but it will take one to predict who will win Best Actor in a Drama: Corey Hawkins or Yahya Abdul-Mateen II?

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 26, 2022
Reviewed at October 25, 2022 press performance.

‘TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’: Corey Hawkins & Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’: Corey Hawkins. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’: Corey Hawkins & Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

Topdog/Underdog video montage

The post ‘Topdog/Underdog’: A must-see revival appeared first on StageZine.

‘HANGMEN’: Alfie Allen & David Threlfall. Photo: Joan Marcus.

HANGMEN
Written by Martin McDonagh
Directed by Matthew Dunster
Through June 18, 2022
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.HangmenBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Martin McDonagh’s new play Hangmen is like a foreign film that you have been anticipating to see for a long time, only to find out it has no subtitles or translations.

Excluding the brilliant movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which is set in America, whether writing for the screen (In Bruges ) or for the theater (The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Pillowman and The Cripple of Inishmaan), there are always thick Irish accents and colloquialisms one has to navigate through in anything written by Mr. McDonagh.  After a few minutes, one gets into the swing of the rhythm of his writings and understands what is being said. Hangmen is set in Lancashire, in northwest England, and is spoken in “English” but is more incomprehensible than any of his other works. Whether it is local colloquialisms, rapid-fire delivery—necessary in some instances—or the extreme, heavily laid on accents, by intermission, one longs for subtitles.

Starting in 1963 set in a prisoner’s cell, a hanging takes place of an innocent man, Hennessey (Josh Goulding). It is presided over by Harry Wade (David Threlfall), the second-best hangman in England. So far, so good.

It is now 1965, hanging in England has been abolished, and what is a hangman to do? Set designer Anna Fleischle has figured it out.  The cell where the hanging took place miraculously elevates and the stage is transformed to a pub. Harry is married to Alice (Tracie Bennett) and they have a 15-year-old daughter, Shirley (Gaby French) and are the owners of Harry’s Pub. The pub is frequented by Harry’s chums and former colleagues. Harry, being interviewed by the Oldham Gazette for his 233 hangings, has now become a local celebrity. Different people come to the pub, among them a newcomer from London, Mooney (Alfie Allen). Mooney likes to be menacing; he flirts with Shirley to get under Harry’s skin. The next day he comes back to the pub and insinuates to Harry and Alice that he has kidnapped Shirley and killed her.

A Martin McDonagh work—whether a film or a play—is always an event, because there is a brilliant edge to his dark humor and the twists and turns he supplies are a joyous thrill ride. In Hangmen, one keeps waiting for these twists and turns, but the proceedings are so mired with the indecipherable language that even the humor gets bogged down and lost in the proceedings. This is where director Matthew Dunster should have stepped in and realized that it is harder for American audiences to comprehend all the dialogue spoken. He should have had the actors slow down the speed of delivery of the minor and some of the major characters, and simplified the heavy accents a bit to make the proceedings easier for Americans to understand.

Again, I have to mention Ms. Fleischle’s set, as being a remarkable master class for any student who has aspirations in going into that theatrical field, and Joshua Carr’s lighting gives a suspenseful and terrifying edge to the proceedings.

David Threlfall superbly plays the long-winded, pompous, self-proclaimed celebrity hangman, the diabolical Harry Wade. He enjoys hanging people just for the sport of it, regardless of being guilty or innocent. He is an innocent man’s nightmare.

The foil to the hangman is Alfie Allen’s menacing Mooney. Starting out as just being an interloper and then becoming a thorn in Wade’s side, Mr. Allen is excellent, so reminiscent of the British bad boys of the early films of the 1960s, the likes of: Albert Finney, Tom Courtney and Alan Bates.

Tracie Bennett as the put-upon wife, Alice, is touching and moving and holds her own with a stage full of men. Also, a delightful performance is given by John Hodgkinson, as Albert Pierrepoint, the number-one hangman in England.

With all the good creative elements that take place in this play, we are still left hanging.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 24, 2022
Reviewed at April 23, 2022 press performance.

‘HANGMEN’: (left to right) Jeremy Crutchley, RIchard Hollis, David Threlfall, Tracie Bennett, Ryan Pope, John Horton & Owen Campbell. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘HANGMEN’: (left to right) David Threlfall, Andy Nyman, Richard Hollis, John Horton & Ryan Pope. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘HANGMEN’: Alfie Allen & Gaby French. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘HANGMEN’: Tracie Bennett & Gaby French. Photo: Joan Marcus.

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‘THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN’: Da’Vinchi and Dyllón Burnside. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN
By Keenan Scott II
Directed by Steve H. Broadnax III
Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
212-239-6200, https://thoughtsofacoloredman.com/

By Scott Harrah

The stories of seven African-American Brooklyn men are interwoven into Keenan Scott II’s thought-provoking Thoughts of a Colored Man, a 90-minute drama that recently opened on Broadway.  The stories are all things we’ve heard before—from poverty to success to coping with societal expectations, biases, dead-end jobs, etc.—but they ring true to life and propel the stories with enough heartbreak to keep audiences both sympathetic and interested.

Each character is named after an emotion.  We have Love (Dyllón Burnside), Happiness (Bryan Terrell Clark), Wisdom (Esau Pritchett), Lust (Da ’Vinchi), Passion (Luke James), Depression (Forrest McClendon) and Anger (Tristan Mack Wilde).

The entire show is presented as a series of vignettes and some work better than others.  Standouts include the first-rate Forrest McClendon as Depression, a man in his 30s who still lives with his mother and works at a Whole Foods for minimum wage.  Mr. McClendon gives a sincere, touching  performance as a man who puts his family’s needs above his own and even tries to buy his younger brother a pair of $200 sneakers.  Some might remember Mr. McClendon and his Tony-nominated role a decade ago in The Scottsboro Boys.

Bryan Terrell Clark is truly dynamic as Happiness, a well-educated gay man who, unlike the other guys in the show, is from an upper middle-class family and has enjoyed many privileges, but finds himself in the awkward position of being looked down on by other black men because they think he’s had it too easy.  The reality is being a gay man of color is a double whammy.  He’s struggled as much as the other men, just in a different way.

Esau Pritchett gives one of the show’s most straightforward performances as Wisdom, an older barber shop owner who has lived through decades of African-American struggles.  He doesn’t allow foul language in his shop, and reprimands one of the younger customers for using the “f” word gay slur in front of Happiness because he wants everyone to feel welcome in his establishment.  Mr. Pritchett is a wise father figure to all the guys who come into his shop, and we know he’s lived through too much grief and speaks from experience. He has learned that tolerance and understanding go a long way in a rough neighborhood and wants everyone to realize this.

The stories of some of the other men are less compelling, such as that of Anger (Tristan Mack Wilds), a college basketball coach who works with athletes that are more into getting big endorsement deals than anything else.

The action all takes place on a minimalist set, mostly using Sven Ortel’s projection designs.

Steve H. Broadnax III extracts fine performances from the cast and keeps everything moving fluidly.  Of all the new fall 2021 Broadway plays depicting African-American experiences, Thoughts of a Colored Man so far is the best.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 17, 2021
Reviewed at October 16, 2021 press performance.

‘THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN’: (Left to right) Luke James, Esau Pritchett, Da’Vinchi, Forrest McClendon, Dyllón Burnside, Tristan Mack Wilds, Bryan Terrell Clark. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN’: Da’Vinchi & Dyllón Burnside. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN’: (Left to right): Luke James, Esau Pritchett, Da’Vinchi, Forrest McClendon, Dyllón Burnside, Tristan Mack Wilds, Bryan Terrell Clark. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN’: Luke James. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

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‘SLAVE PLAY’ (On ground, left to right): Ato Blankson-Wood, James Cusati-Moyer, Sullivan Jones, Annie McNamara, Joaquina Kalukango, Paul Alexander Nolan. (In red boxes, left to right): Irene Sofia Lucio & Chalia La Tour. Photo: Matthew Murphy

SLAVE PLAY
By Jeremy O. Harris
Directed by Robert O’Hara
Through January 19, 2020
Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
212-239-6200, https://slaveplaybroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

Sex and race are topics that push everyone’s proverbial buttons, and the two themes are explored via outrageous extremes in Jeremy O. Harris’s provocative Slave Play.

The show, in the beginning, is a series of uncomfortable, absurdist S&M sexual vignettes but ends up actually being a send-up of psychotherapy and relationships. It also tries to make serious statements about race in America. Playwright Jeffrey O. Harris’s overlong one-act tale mostly chronicles, in the first hour, titillating simulated sex scenes among interracial couples, followed by a second hour that explains, from a psychological and historical perspective, everything we’ve seen previously.

The scenes in the show’s first half are stereotypical in the absolute worst porn-style way and so intentionally offensive that they just look absurd and pointless. In the first vignette, Kaneisha (Joaquina Kalukango) is an African slave shown twerking to Rihanna’s “Work” while white overseer Jim (Paul Alexander Nolan) reveals how much he likes her, brandishing a whip as she calls him “master” (please, don’t ask).

There is the antebellum older white woman Alana (Annie McNamara), seen sporting 19^th century finery, while speaking in derogatory sexual innuendoes to her well-dressed, younger black lover Phillip (Sullivan Jones). She calls him her “Mandingo” (perhaps an homage to the awful “blaxploitation” film and novel of the same name). Phillip must endure Alana’s racist blather about his ample endowment. Eventually she whips out a dildo and penetrates him, asking if he likes her being “the man.”

We also have the gay male couple, Gary (Ato Blankson-Wood) and Dustin (James Cusati-Moyer). Dustin is a white indentured servant who is overseen by African American stud Gary. They both sport black Calvin Klein underwear and leather boots and you can draw your own conclusions about what happens next.

In the next hour, we learn that all this racially charged sex way down in pre-Civil War Dixie is an erotic phantasmagoria of fantasies of role playing and we’re really watching three interracial couples in “antebellum sexual performance therapy.” There is a lot of bantering from the couples and pretentious psychobabble from the two therapists, Teá (Chalia LaTour) and Patricia (Irene Sofia Lucio). The point (or lack thereof) of this group study is for the couples to better understand their racial standing, only to pulverize each relationship. Supposedly, they are told, in interracial couples someone is “the prize” and someone is “the master,” everyone is doomed to their own self-destruction, blah, blah, blah.

Despite the play’s shortcomings, there are some good performances here from cast members who play dual roles as both modern couples and their antebellum counterparts. Joaquina Kalukango is one of the most outstanding, displaying many raw emotions, and she is particularly effective in one of the show’s final scenes. As Gary, Ato Blankson-Wood is perfect, especially in a therapy sequence in which he goes off on his partner Dustin.

Perhaps playwright Jeremy O. Harris wanted to write a play that addressed, in a lighthearted way, the important topics of racism and America’s sad history of slavery while also examining modern-day human sexuality. Slave Play originated Off Broadway last year at the New York Theatre Workshop and in a smaller, less commercial production this show works best. However, as directed by Robert O’Hara for the Broadway stage, it is too flawed and ultimately unsatisfying to work as either a solid comedy or eye-opening drama about such sensitive subject matter.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 12, 2019
Reviewed at October 10, 2019 press performance.

‘SLAVE PLAY’: Annie McNamara & Sullivan Jones. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘SLAVE PLAY’: James Cusati-Moyer & Ato Blankson-Wood. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘SLAVE PLAY’: (Left to right) Ato Blankson-Wood, Chalia La Tour, Joaquina Kalukango (kneeling), Irene Sofia Lucio, Sullivan Jones, Annie McNamara, Paul Alexander Nolan, & James Cusati-Moyer. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

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HILLARY AND CLINTON
Written by Lucas Hnath
Directed by Joseph Mantello
Through July 21, 2019
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.hillaryandclintonbroadway.com

By David Nounou

After seeing Lucas Hnath’s 2017 A Doll’s House, Part 2, a follow-up to Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House in which Nora returns to her family after a 15-year absence (and all the drama she creates), I was intrigued to see what Mr. Hnath’s next play would be. Upon learning it was entitled Hillary and Clinton, I was giddy with anticipation over what twists he would bring to this world-renowned couple.

Starting out promisingly, we see Hillary (Laurie Metcalf) in 2008 explaining that flipping a coin five times results in one outcome, what are the chances getting the same results flipping that coin over and over again? What if another Hillary in another galaxy was doing the same toss of the coin, what would be the results there? Titillating premise for sure, but the results come up short.

Hillary is despondent that she has lost the Iowa caucus to Barack (Peter Francis James). Now, in New Hampshire, she is in third place, Barack still leading. She and her campaign manager Mark (Zac Orth) are discussing strategies, and he insists that she doesn’t call Bill (John Lithgow) for help. Everyone here is known by their first name. Mark has an offer from Barack’s team that if she drops out gracefully, Barack will pick her as his running mate, saying that it isn’t her turn now. Of course the first thing she does is call Bill for help. What ensues is bitter rancor and chastisements.

What is so frustrating is that in the 80 minutes in A Doll’s House, Part 2, so much happened, while in the same amount of time here, not much happens. After 40 minutes you hear Hillary say it is the end of Part 1, so naturally one assumes that the alternate universe would begin with what if she did run as Barack’s running mate? She wouldn’t have been secretary of state, she would not have been blamed for Benghazi and there may never have been a private server and who knows how the 2016 elections would have resulted in another galaxy? What possibilities to explore indeed. Instead we are served the blaming game and that Bill is the millstone around Hillary’s neck; she would be better off divorcing him and he would be nothing without her.

Laurie Metcalf’s riveting performance is what sustains one’s interest in the show. Without a Hillary wig, makeup or pantsuits, she is Laurie being Hillary in the most natural of ways and the performance is so luminous it could lead to an unprecedented third consecutive Tony Award for her.

John Lithgow as Bill also shines, but here he is more of a lead weight than the charismatic charmer that Bill still is. He is the man made by a strong woman standing behind him and in his shadow.

Joe Mantello as usual extracts every nuance from an otherwise lackluster show to keep it compelling. Pity he couldn’t extract or create that alternate universe. Instead, we have to be satisfied with another stunning performance from Laurie Metcalf as the heroine.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 18, 2019

‘HILLARY AND CLINTON’: John Lithgow plays Bill. Photo; Robert Zuckerman

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‘THE WAVERLY GALLERY’: Joan Allen & Elaine May. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

THE WAVERLY GALLERY
Written by Kenneth Lonergan
Directed by Lila Neugebauer
Through January 27, 2019
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200),www.TheWaverlyGalleryOnBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Kenneth Lonergan has not so much penned a play as he has written a slice of life. Some people may call it a memory play as in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie in which Tom recalls the past and his family. Yet here Daniel Reed, played by the wonderful Lucas Hedges, doesn’t so much recall the past but explains in each successive scene his grandmother’s plight. His grandmother, Gladys Green, is radiantly played by the indomitable Elaine May.

The play opens with Gladys conversing with her grandson Daniel in her Greenwich Village art gallery about his life, his job, and things in general. She talks to him about his parents’ broken marriage and the fondness she and her deceased husband had for their son-in-law. She recalls her past and her joy of meeting new people. This is all done in a loving and nurturing but a bit repetitive manner. At first this comes across as funny because Elaine May has the knack of wringing humor from the most mundane of lines; but as the scene progresses the repetitiveness becomes more serious because Gladys isn’t so much as eccentric as she is developing the early stages of dementia.

As the story unfolds, Don Bowman (Michael Cera) enters the gallery. He is an artist who has moved from Massachusetts to New York to sell off his pitiable art and the only place that will take him in is Gladys. She believes all artists deserve a chance and enables him to showcase his art in her space, a so-called gallery.

Wednesday nights are reserved for dinner at Ellen (Joan Allen) and Howard Fine’s (David Cromer) home. Ellen is Gladys’ daughter, mother to Daniel and wife to second husband Howard. It is here where we begin to see Gladys’ deterioration. Ellen is the bastion of strength in the family, one who looks after Gladys and has to deal with the problems that begin to arise on a daily basis. She is ultimately the one who has to decide what happens to Gladys once she is informed that she is losing her gallery space and how this loss will affect Gladys when she has no place to go to fill her days.

Again, let me reiterate what we see here isn’t so much a play but actual life that Mr. Lonergan has put into words. He totally connects the dots of the start of Alzheimer’s disease, to the progression and the inevitable unreasonable demands that are unwittingly made by the patient. The effects it has on the family, when they take on the responsibility and refuse to allow the loved one go into a nursing home. Although this may sound very depressing, Mr. Lonergan has framed it with humor, which makes sitting through it a cathartic experience.

For a play of this nature, you have to start with an outstanding ensemble cast. I have to start by thanking Elaine May for bringing my late mother (who suffered from the same disease) to life and showing, with heartbreaking accuracy, what she went through those last few years of her life. Ms. May captures every nuance of so many of these patients and she does it exceptionally. One can’t imagine the toll it must take on Ms. May, but her performance is nothing short of remarkable.

Lucas Hedges is at the forefront of young actors and already has classic films under his belt. Mr. Hedges last year had his Oscar-nominated role in Manchester by the Sea and received critical raves for his work in Lady Bird and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Mr. Hedges stars in the much-anticipated, soon-to-be-released Boy Erased. He makes an auspicious Broadway debut here and hopefully he returns frequently because he is equally at ease and engaging in front of a camera as well as with a live audience.

Michael Cera, earlier seen this spring in his Tony-nominated role in Mr. Lonergan’s Lobby Hero, is almost unrecognizable, as he has shed his baby-faced looks by growing his hair and a beard, to play a hapless young artist. He is perfect as this guileless artist trying to survive in the big city.

It is great to see Joan Allen back on the New York stage inhabiting a very difficult role of trying to be a cold and disciplined daughter who has to say no and rein in her unruly, deteriorating mother, but also be caring and compassionate. David Cromer, who is a Tony-winning director, is equally adept at acting. His performance is dictated by his artistry of being an impeccable director. Lila Neugebauer directs everyone with sharp precision.

What makes The Waverly Gallery a must-see is that it is a life history lesson. It captures our past and what we were, it captures the present of what we have to cope with, and it captures the future for a preparation what may be in store for a loved one or for us.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 29, 2018
Reviewed at October 28, 2018 press performance.

‘THE WAVERLY GALLERY’: Elaine May. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THE WAVERLY GALLERY’: (left to right) Lucas Hedges, Elaine May & Michael Cera. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THE WAVERLY GALLERY’: Lucas Hedges & Elaine May. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THE WAVERLY GALLERY’: Lucas Hedges & Elaine May. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THE WAVERLY GALLERY’: Joan Allen. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THE WAVERLY GALLERY’: Lucas Hedges. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THE WAVERLY GALLERY’: Lucas Hedges. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THE WAVERLY GALLERY’: Lucas Hedges. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THE WAVERLY GALLERY’: Elaine May. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

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‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: (left to right) Glenda Jackson, Alison Pill & Laurie Metcalf. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

THREE TALL WOMEN
Written by Edward Albee
Directed by Joseph Mantello
Through June 24, 2018
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200),www.threetallwomenbroadway.com

By David NouNou

Upon seeing Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women for the second time, having originally seen it in London in 1994 with Maggie Smith, one wonders why this 1991 Pulitzer Prize winning play has never been done on Broadway? The answer is simple it was waiting for Glenda Jackson to retire from British politics and return to the stage, and what a return; she is nothing short of remarkable, giving the performance of the year.

To some degree this is Albee’s most accessible and normalized play. The characters are simply known as A, Glenda Jackson, B, Laurie Metcalf and C, Alison Pill. In the first half of the play, A is a sick, old dying woman who is rich, vain, imperious, bigoted, racist as well as homophobic. She is nursed by a middle-aged savvy B, who knows all her idiosyncrasies and knows when to calm and when to stoke her. C is young and idealistic and has been sent over by A’s attorney to take care of A’s unpaid bills. In the midst of all the idealism and cynicism, A has a stroke and blackout.

Within seconds the second part begins in a mirror image in reverse, with a body facing the back wall and the three tall women emerge in radiant lilac frocks, facing the audience, discussing the deceased.  The three women are the same at different stages of their lives: 26 idealistic, 52 bitter and cynical, and 92 content that it is all behind her now and she doesn’t have to deal with it anymore. Each one theorizes which is the best time in life.

Now back to Ms. Jackson. Leaving the stage for 25 years and being part of the British House of Commons has not dimmed her stage presence one iota. My personal favorite Glenda Jackson film is her 1973 Oscar-winning performance in A Touch Of Class. She was forceful, dominant and a force to be reckoned with; she hasn’t lost her touch and damn she is a classy lady through and through. Even when she is talking about her late husband’s genitalia, she peppers it with such frivolity that she manages to bring the house down. Here is an instance when an actor and role were made for each other, a performance for the ages.

Laurie Metcalf, who last year won a Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actress for A Doll’s House, Part II supports Ms. Jackson admirably in Part I, then glows as a red-hot ember in the second half. Her depiction of middle-aged bitterness is sublimely real. She is becoming a Broadway staple and a perennial Tony nominee, and for my money, she should return to Broadway annually.

Alison Pill, who is an accomplished actress in her own right, is in the least admirable part. Her part is the least developed and lacks much dimension. She does have a sincere moment in the second half as she retells a moment of her youth.

Broadway audiences are in for a real treat with Three Tall Women, beautifully directed by Joe Mantello. He has imbued it with so much texture and richness that the play seems timeless. Besides seeing one of Albee’s best and least revived plays, you will be experiencing a ferocious force known as Hurricane Glenda, a powerful tour de force in the best of ways.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 25, 2018
Reviewed at April 24, 2018 press performance.

‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: Alison Pill, Laurie Metcalf & Glenda Jackson. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: Glenda Jackson & Laurie Metcalf

‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: Glenda Jackson. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: Alison Pill, Glenda Jackson & Laurie Metcalf. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: Alison Pill, Glenda Jackson & Laurie Metcalf. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: Alison Pill. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

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