THE PUSHOVER
by John Patrick Shanley
Directed by Kirk Gostkowski
Featuring Rebecca de Mornay
Chain Theatre
Reviewed by David Spencer
John Patrick Shanley is a brilliant and unique American playwright. And when he gets it right, he gets it very, very right. But his signature strength can also, on occasion, be his downfall. He doesn’t just write about human complexity and internal contradiction; he writes about human messiness. Contradictions are multi-faceted and disproportionate, relationships, whether ultimately binding or ultimately fractured, are infused with the paradox of jet-propelled ambiguity.
This inability-slash-refusal of Shanley’s characters to stay within their lanes when interacting can be quite engaging when his game plan includes a satisfyingly cathartic conclusion (as a dramatist, you’re usually working backwards from that; if you can see the destination on the horizon, your forward movement keeps you on the path).
But ironically, despite being framed as a flashback in the office of a psycho-therapist (Christopher Sutton), it feels very much as if The Pushover was improvised almost from start to finish. It follows (if that’s the verb) an especially convoluted lesbian love triangle in which a young, Chinese restaurant owner (Di Zhu) and a woman of power with criminal connections (Rebecca De Mornay) are the forces who are both drawn to and oppose one another; and a young con artist and former (?) drug addict (Cristina Toth) is the McGuffin through/about whom the ups and downs are calibrated.
The direction by Kirk Gustowski indulges the messiness, laisez-faire, rather than guiding the performers through it for at least an illusion of consistent tone, with the result that I, at least, was always aware of actors at work, having made strong choices out of desperation—to anchor their characterizations and interplay in something—rather than cultivation. Disappointing, to put it gently.