The amazing Gabby Beans stars as Ana in this play about seeking companionship and happiness even in the worst of circumstances. The play overall was too long, and I was eager to leave the theater after 100 minutes with no intermission. But the more I have thought about the play, the more I appreciate the nuanced way in which the audience is brought into Ana's inner world.
Hagan Oliveras is the sweet, charming, and innocent Jonah who serves as Ana's refuge from her reality. Samuel H. Levine is Danny, the foil to Jonah - he cares about Ana but in a desperate and dangerous way. And John Zdrojeski is the awkward and inquisitive Steven who is enamored with the acclaimed novelist that Ana becomes. The men pop up in the intertwining scenes as we work to figure out what is real and what has been created by Ana, weaving convincing and compelling stories about her own life in order to cope. Laura Pels Theatre, Roundabout It's not often that a play evokes such a wide range of emotions - from laugh-out-loud funny to gasp-out-loud horrifying, this play has it all. Three siblings reunite at their childhood home in Arkansas to organize an estate sale and settle their father's affairs. Each had a different relationship with their father, but no one is prepared to reckon with the truth about the man.
The powerhouse cast, led by Sarah Paulson as Toni (the eldest sibling), is unbelievably good. Graham Campbell plays her wayward son, Corey Stoll (as Bo) and Michael Esper (as Frank) are both convincing brothers, Natalie Gold is excellent as the Jewish sister-in-law, and Elle Fanning contributes key comic relief as the hippie girlfriend/fiancé - she also plays an important role as an outsider to the family drama. The children provide another innocent perspective to the traumatic history of the family. Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by Lila Neugebauer, the 2+ hour play is riveting until the last moment. Hayes Theater Audrey Plaza (Roberta) and Christopher Abbott (Danny) have electric emotional and sexual chemistry throughout this dark comedy. The two strike up reluctant conversation with each other at an empty bar, both sporting thick Bronx accents. Initially stilted dialogue gives way to powerful monologues in which deep truths of trauma and self-loathing bubble up to the surface and bring these two misfits together. The play is a riveting portrayal of an unlikely connection between two regular people dealing with their shit.
Lucille Lortel Theatre The indomitable Purlie Victorious Judson (Leslie Odom, Jr.) returns to the plantation where he and his family once were the slaves of Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee (Jay O. Sanders), and where his brother and sister-in-law (Billy Eugene Jones and Heather Alicia Simms) still live under his shadow, endlessly indebted to him. Purlie hopes to purchase Big Bethel and begin a life of preaching to the community. He has hatched a plan to claim inheritance money owed to his cousin Bee, who has passed away. In her place Purlie has brought along Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins (Kara Young), who he hopes Cotchipee will believe is Bee so they can claim the money.
For me, Lutiebelle steals the show as she tries to follow Purlie's instructions to appear as cousin Bee - especially in contrast to the last role we saw her in (Jess in The Cost of Living), Young's physicality, comedic timing, and delivery is almost unmatched on the stage. But of course Odom keeps up, delivering vigorous monologues throughout, and really so does the rest of the incredible cast. The play is outrageously funny, but also has some very dark moments. And we very clearly see why this revival is still so important in our time, why it retains the setting of "the recent past." Music Box Theatre Dianne Wiest as Meryl is a marvel to watch in this play about a woman striving to live her best life, even as an older woman in her 70s. Meryl's husband has died recently - providing relief from an unhappy, abusive marriage - and Meryl is free to pursue her dream of becoming an actor. Specifically, Meryl is confident that she will be a famous movie star in short order. She moves to LA and immediately finds an acting class where she is discovered and subsequently cast to play herself in a movie about her life. And if that all seems very improbable, that's because it is and Meryl is an unreliable narrator. Is she really living this dream? Or is it all a delusion of her progressing dementia?
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