|
Feb 7. ME, MYSELF, AND I, the latest play by Edward Albee at the Berlind Theater. A comic idea, a mother's confusion
between two identical twin sons, spread out for two hours. Fun for 15 minutes, but as time goes on, the fun morphs into boredom.
Mar
30. PILLOWMAN by Martin McDonagh at Murray-Dodge. Students do a bang-up job in the production of this macabre horror play.
The theme: child abuse. McDonagh has a genius for outlandish, outrageous dialog. A sample: Parents torture a young girl who
thinks she is Christ. After they nail her to a cross, they ask her whether she still thinks she is the redeemer. Her answer,
"Fuckin' right!"May 27. A SEAGULL IN THE HAMPTONS at McCarter, written and directed by Emily Mann. A rewrite of the Chekov
play, transporting the characters to Long Island. Interesting evening at the theater. Major complaint: the play revolves about
Alex, the disturbed son of the successful actress Maria. He is so boorish and demanding that I was relieved when he shot himself
at the end of the play. I felt that the play should have generated sympathy for him, so that we would fully realize the tragedy
involved.May 30. THE FOREIGNER by Larry Shue at Murray-Dodge. Froggy brings Charlie, whose wife is dying, to rest up in
rural Georgia in a house owned by his friend Betty. Charlie doesn't want to talk to anyone, so Max tells Betty that he is
a foreigner, who doesn't speak English. Everyone in the home either yells at Charlie or speaks pidgin English. Funny for a
while, but they lost me when a melodrama involving the KKK and an avaricious clergyman intrude on Charlie's rest and relaxation.June
14. Visit via Metro North to DIA:BEACON, a cavernous art museum in Beacon, a town along the Hudson about 60 miles north of
NYC. If your art measures 20X20 feet or weighs 20 ton or more, Dia is the place to handle it. What's there? Dozens of Andy
Warhol Shadows, 4 or 5 Richard Serra steel vats, about 12 feet tall, weighing 10 tons or more, string sculptures, stretching
from floor to celing by Fred Sandback, and huge pits, some circular, some square by Michael Heizer, and other monstrosities.
Breathtaking.June 22. ARCADIA by Tom Stoppard at Murray-Dodge. Second viewing for me of this fiendishly complicated play
that mixes art, science, and politics of the early nineteenth century. Basically, a titled English family hires a tutor
for their daughter and also invites brilliant writers, scientists, and poets (Byron) to their country estate. They pontificate,
arguing about the 2nd law of thermodynamics, Newtons laws and their application to real life. At the same time the men scheme
to spend a night with the lady of the house. Diverting and confusing.DIV>
|
