Straight Play Round Up:
PURPOSE
JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLIAN
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW
Reviewed by David Spencer
Because the renovation of the Aisle Say website a few seasons ago is so designer-friendly to showcasing individual reviews, I try to limit round-ups, but senior-citizenry and the later-life call of writing, and contributing to, books, has slowed my review-writing time. And in a way, experience too; as I note trending transitions changes in the zeitgeist, leading to social and cultural changes—and all that against a political landscape devoted to confusion—I’m far less given to categorical certainty. Ethical certainty, yes. Critical certainty: not so much. Which is why, so often now, my reviews are careful to note why your view might be different. Because audience consensus is more generous these days. The explosion of multiculturalism has affected so much, and has drawn in so much more diversified an audience (mentally diversified as much as demographically) that good/bad, works/doesn’t-work are often—not always, but often—relative concepts. What to say about a given theatrical work can sometimes be a real challenge. My philosophy used to be simple: Find refuge in the truth. But these days, several truths can operate at once.
On the flip side, this is my first round-up of the season: brief takes on some still-running straight plays I’d love to review in more depth, but will never get to in a timely fashion if I indulge that desire.
Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, just snagged the Pultizer Prize—and deserves it. Style-wise, it struck me as a delicious hybrid of some classic theatrical forebears. As a contemporary family play, it’s something of an African American Long Day’s Journey Into Night, though its time-arc is actually a long weekend. But it’s far funnier (the dialogue fairly crackles); and its opening sequences are far sunnier; and in that regard, of all things, it reminded me of Jason Miller’s That Championship Season (one of my favorite plays, and likewise a Pulitzer winner) in the sense that characters seemed to be getting along so well, that I found myself eagerly anticipating the moment when things would start to unravel, wondering how they might (Mr. Jacobs-Jenkins is wonderful at subtle foreshadowing without telegraphing) and not being remotely disappointed when they did. Though very surprised at how spectacularly they accelerated. It’s a brilliant play, with a terrific ensemble—which includes the great character man Harry Lennix (whom you might know as FBI director Harold Cooper on The Blacklist) giving one of those iconic old-pro performances as the family patriarch. And Phylicia Rashad’s direction is a pitch-perfect master class in verisimilitude, especially how to play comedy for real stakes, while sacrificing nothing in the way of timing. [Purpose website]
John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower, a play set in a high school classroom with a mostly-young cast, has some interesting things to say about shifts in cultural perspective; about how literature reflects the social dynamics of its time, and how subsequent generations view that literature through the prism of their own social dynamics. I actually think this a way more complex and nuanced topic than the play’s dramatization of it; but in making Arthur Miller’s The Crucible the jumping off point, it ironically focuses on a play whose social dynamic—which must be set apart from its political metaphor—is one I found myself questioning when I was not that many years older than the students being portrayed. Avoiding spoilers, I’ll add only that as [] was setting up her characters and their arguments, I wondered if she would eventually parallel the relationships in The Crucible from a contemporary perspective. She keeps going down that path at bay for quite some time—but then she does, with…I was going to say a vengeance, but maybe a passion for justice is more accurate. It manages to be disappointingly inevitable yet a satisfying fulfillment of the play’s thesis. The talented cast is skillfully directed by Dayna Taymor. [John Proctor Website]
There have been many distinguished evenings in which one performer assays all the roles in a classic piece—play or prose—but Australian director-adapter Kip Williams’ take on The Picture of Dorian Gray is something quite different. For while there is only one actor, there are dozens of bodies and moving parts making it happen, because it’s as much a tour de force for its multi-media execution as for its lead actress, Spoilers in this case would be describing the effects, while are constantly varying and go from surprise to surprise; but suffice it to say you only occasionally have your eyes on British star Sarah Snook (recreating her Olivier Award winning performance) live onstage; you mostly watch her live onscreen. In the abstract, this doesn’t sound terribly theatrical, but in the execution it’s entirely theatrical; the multiscreen special effects video being created in front of your eyes, combined with Ms. Snook’s portrayal of 36 characters and astonishing ability to simultaneously keep ratcheting up narrative, physical and psychological tension is the live event. (As a historical note: I was curious as to whether this approach was devised specifically to showcase Ms. Snook, and, as I suspected, it’s built to support any actor with the stamina and skill to meet its demands. The production actually debuted in Australia, starring Eryn Jean Norvill, who serves as the Broadway iteration’s dramaturg and creative associate.) [Dorian Gray website]
Given my sometime-association with science fiction and related genres, I was never indoctrinated into television’s Stranger Things storytelling universe; I was thus completely at sea watching last season’s musical parody Stranger Sings. Fortunately, Stranger Things: The First Shadow—which had its debut in London’s West End—is a serious, fully licensed and affiliated enterprise, a play written by one of the show’s co-creators, Kate Trefrey (its storyline in collaboration with the others, The Duffer Brothers); on top of that, it’s a prequel; full of Easter Eggs for the initiated (my matinee companion gave me the rundown) and easily comprehensible to the newbie. Not that every such event needs to abstract itself from established long-arc continuity—the first X-Files film, Fight the Future, created its own context, despite being a bridge between seasons four and five; and the still-running play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child comes at the franchise with a bit of a next-generation spin that doesn’t require familiarity with the past seven adventures. But the Stranger Things universe is an especially complex one, with too many intertwining storylines for a dive into the deep end. So a prequel is a perfect standalone vehicle. I don’t want to say much, save that it’s about the increasing occurrence of paranormal events in a small town, a troubled teenager upon whom they focus, the sudden government intervention that attempts to channel them, and the increasingly catastrophic effects all this has on the populace, with focus on the local high school. Under the direction of Stephen Daldry, the Buffy-like balance of playing tongue-in-cheek for real stakes (a requirement) is maintained without more than a few blips; the special effects are, perhaps arguably, the most impressive of the spectacle effects that Broadway has thus far seen; and, most importantly, the multiple characters and complex storytelling threads are delivered cleanly, clearly, suspensefully and free of confusion. If you’re a candidate for this kind of thing, it won’t disappoint. [Stranger Things: The First Shadow website]
I’ll try getting to a musicals round-up next week.