‘THE TRUE’: (left to right) Edie Falco, Michael McKean & Peter Scolari. Photo: Monique Carboni

THE TRUE
Written by Sharr White
Directed by Scott Elliott
Through October 28, 2018
The New Group
The Pershing Square Signature Center
The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre
480 West 42nd Street
(212) 279-4200
www.TheNewGroup.org

By David NouNou

Set in 1977 Albany, NY, Erastus Corning II (Michael McKean) is running for his umpteenth term as mayor. However, this time the stakes are much higher as he has an opponent who could easily defeat him. Sharr White’s new drama The True takes electioneering to simpler but not gentler times. There were fewer women’s voices and no social media. Like today, one still had to plan, scheme and maneuver for votes, but unlike today, one email or tweet couldn’t sink a candidate.

Dorothea “Polly” Noonan (Edie Falco), described as “the blunt, profane, decades-long defender of Albany’s Democratic Party machine” and Mayor Corning’s secretary for the last 35 years, is being kicked out by Corning from his inner circle to improve his chances of winning. Polly has been married to Peter Noonan (Peter Scolari) for decades and Peter and Corning have been best friends for decades. The waters here are muddied by the persistent rumor that Polly and Corning have had a relationship together, and this may or may not be true and it is never clarified to what degree that relationship went. Basically, in those days, it was rumors and gossip that persisted; social media wasn’t invented yet to bring people down.

The uniqueness of the play is the tenacity, fierceness and Polly’s persistence that she keeps fighting for Corning even after she has been pushed out of the inner circle. When so few women were involved in politics back then, the ones who were remained dedicated and loyal to the man and the best for the party. They didn’t flit allegiance from one candidate to another. Does Kellyanne Conway come to mind?

The revelation here is Edie Falco; starting out as jabbering, bordering on pushy and obnoxious, only to display her resolved dedication to a man she loves and one she believes in deeply. Her performance is nuanced and spellbinding. Peter Scolari as her husband has never been better, giving a low-key performance of a supporting husband who is bound to both his wife and best friend and forgives anything that may or may not have happened between them. Rounding out this trio is Michael McKean as Corning; as always, he delivers a steadfast performance.

Scott Elliott’s direction is fluid, thanks in large part to Derek McLane’s easy transforming sets. Sharr White has delivered another entertaining evening in the theater but it is Edie Falco’s stunning and galvanizing performance that you will remember for a long time. She truly embodies the adage of “behind every successful man there is a strong woman.”

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published September 20, 2018
Reviewed at September 16, 2018 press preview performance.

‘THE TRUE’: Michael McKean & Edie Falco. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘THE TRUE’: (left to right) Peter Scolari, Austin Cauldwell & Edie Falco. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘THE TRUE’: Edie Falco & Glenn Fitzgerald. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘THE TRUE’: Edie Falco & Michael McKean. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘THE TRUE’: John Pankow & Edie Falco. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘THE TRUE’: Edie Falco & Peter Scolari. Photo: Monique Carboni

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‘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

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