‘GOOD FOR OTTO’: (left to right) Rileigh McDonald, Rhea Perlman & Ed Harris. Photo: Monique Carboni

GOOD FOR OTTO

Written by David Rabe
Directed by Scott Elliott
The New Group
The Pershing Square Signature Center
The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre
480 West 42nd Street
(212-279-4200), http://www.TheNewGroup.org

By David NouNou

There are no easy answers or solutions in this riveting new David Rabe play. Unlike another drama also set in a mental institution, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, there were boundaries and parameters there. It was the patients (rebellious or not) and their treatments. Here, the door is wide open. Mr. Rabe not only shows the daily process and routines patients go through; we also get the perspective and ordeals doctors face each day. It is not always the patients that need help because people forget and don’t realize that doctors face dilemmas and ordeals on a daily basis with multiple patients.

Set in a rural Connecticut mental health center, the patients not only come with their baggage but also the shame. There are a variety of patients and two doctors: the head doctor, Dr. Michaels (Ed Harris) and his co-worker, Evangeline Ryder (Amy Madigan). Besides the daily visits with patients there are also two additional elements that these doctors have to face: the bureaucracy of insurance coverage and their own personal doubts if they are doing the right thing or not.

The cast is an incredible, cohesive ensemble and they all shine; from Ed Harris and Amy Madigan as the doctors who work off each other like a precision watch to the patients among them: Bernard (F. Murray Abraham), an older gentleman who can’t get out of bed; Timothy (Mark Linn-Baker) who lacks social skills and is distraught that his hamster Otto needs serious surgery; Alex (Maulik Pancholy) who has issues about coming out as a gay man; Jimmy (Michael Rabe) who killed himself because the gun told him to; Frannie (Rileigh McDonald), a young girl having problems dealing with constantly being put in foster homes and harming herself; and Nora (Rhea Perlman), the latest foster mother who has problems just dealing with Frannie on a daily basis.

These are only some of the patients and problems; they all have issues and need saving and in the center of the mix are the doctors who face these challenges on a daily basis with their flaws and misgivings. Director Scott Elliott meets these challenges head on. He makes sense of a script that is at times hard to comprehend, especially the scenes with Dr. Michaels and his dead mother (Charlotte Hope) and her interaction with other patients in the facility. It is not an easy task, but Mr. Elliott helps us see the patients, the doctors, bureaucracy and the pitfalls.

The play is not an easy sit-through. However, the storyline is always compelling, the characters are engaging and the ensemble acting is glorious. This is good theatre but not for the faint of heart.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 8, 2018
Reviewed at March 3, 2018 press preview performance.

‘GOOD FOR OTTO’: Mark Linn-Baker & Ed Harris. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘GOOD FOR OTTO’: Amy Madigan & F. Murray Abraham. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘GOOD FOR OTTO’: (left to right) Ed Harris, Laura Esterman & Kenny Mellman. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘GOOD FOR OTTO’: (left to right) Michael Rabe, Ed Harris & Kate Buddeke. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘GOOD FOR OTTO’: Ed Harris & Lily Gladstone. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘GOOD FOR OTTO’: Ed Harris & Rileigh McDonald. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘GOOD FOR OTTO’: (left to right) Nancy GIles, Rhea Perlman, Ed Harris & Rileigh McDonald. Photo: Monique Carboni

The post ‘Good for Otto’ a dark gem appeared first on StageZine.

‘THE SPOILS’: Jesse Eisenberg & Kunal Nayyar. Photo: Monique Carboni

THE SPOILS
Written by Jesse Eisenberg
Directed by Scott Elliott
Through June 28, 2015
The New Group
The Pershing Square Signature Center
480 West 42nd Street
(212-279-4200), http://www.TheNewGroup.org

By David NouNou

To what ends would one go through to annihilate the ones closest to them? How low would privileged, shiftless millennials sink to, in order to douse the happiness of those hard workers, contributors to society, and people who are just happy to be themselves? How disliked and repellant do you have to be in order to get some recognition from those closest to you? These are just some of the demons that playwright Jesse Eisenberg tries to exorcise here, and he deals with them in a Machiavellian way, with hysterical humor and of course the drama at the core.

Ben (Jesse Eisenberg) is over privileged, living in a fantastic high-rise apartment that his father bought him, and was kicked out of NYU graduate film school. Ben’s never done a day’s work in his life. He’s a pot-smoking, aimless guy who berates everyone close to him. In addition, he’s a bigot, and can’t stand anyone’s happiness, ethics or ambitions. On good days, Ben is sarcastic and spews venom. Ben has a Nepalese roommate, Kalyan (Kunal Nayyar), a hard worker and a finance major. Kalyan loves being in America, and genuinely cares for and likes Ben. He feels obligated to him because Ben lets him live there for free.

Kalyan has a girlfriend, Reshma (Annapurna Sriram), who is medical student on clinical rotations and is very fond of Kalyan, admires his ambitions but has her misgivings about him. She feels free to come and go in Ben’s apartment, and she has contempt for Ben.

On this auspicious day, Ben runs into a former grade-school acquaintance, Ted (Michael Zegen), a likeable Wall Street douche. Ted is marrying Sarah (Erin Darke), a former grade school crush of Ben’s who is now a public school teacher. Now the circle of characters is complete and Eisenberg’s Machiavellian mind shifts the action into high gear. How does a self-hating, childish bully vanquish anyone who is happy, to some degree self-absorbed, has a modicum of success and looks forward to a brighter future?

The ensemble of five is terrific. Eisenberg, the actor, an Oscar nominee and best known for The Social Network, plays the self-destructive Ben to perfection; as both playwright and actor he plays him sincerely and asks for no pity. Like everyone else in life, Ben has to find his own way through his maze.

Kunal Nayyar, best known as TV’s Raj Koothrappalli in the TV series “The Big Bang Theory,” has left such an indelible mark as Raj, that it is almost impossible to separate him from his TV character. Let’s say that Kalyan is the New York cousin of Raj: an optimistic, serious, hard-working immigrant who longs for a better life and Mr. Nayyar delivers splendidly.

Erin Darke, Annapurna Sriram, and Michael Zegen complete the cast and each one stands out well as their character. Scott Elliott, Artistic Director of The New Group and director of The Spoils, should have given Mr. Eisenberg, the playwright, a bit more focus, especially in Act II, because Mr. Eisenberg is proving himself not only as a successful young actor but is distinguishing himself as a new voice and an interesting, up-and-coming playwright.

Jesse Eisenberg & Kunal Nayyar. Photo: Monique Carboni

Jesse Eisenberg & Kunal Nayyar. Photo: Monique Carboni

Annapurna Sriram & Jesse Eisenberg. Photo: Monique Carboni

(Left to right) Michael Zegen, Jesse Eisenberg & Erin Darke. Photo: Monique Carboni

Jesse Eisenberg & Erin Darke. Photo: Monique Carboni

The cast of ‘The Spoils.’ Photo: Monique Carboni

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 2, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on May 31, 2015

The post ‘The Spoils’: Millennials Behaving Badly appeared first on StageZine.