Since it’s been over a week since I’ve seen these shows, I guess I’ll just jot down my overall impressions. As far as the two plays,
August: OC left the most lasting impression. Who’d have guessed a one set, family drama could actually sustain an audience’s interest for over three hours? I mean, I’m wary of anything that boasts two intermissions. That’s just asking for bad ticket sales. But the audience seemed genuinely riveted. Yeah, many of the family secrets revealed over the course of the evening do border on soap opera territory. But the strength of the performances coupled with the playwright’s gift to humanize even the most detestable characters, keeps the evening from slipping into parody. Honestly, who can’t relate to family dysfunction - can I get an “Amen”? I even found myself thinking that my family’s past get-togethers could rival just about anything happening on that stage. Okay, so maybe the symbolism of the Indian is a little heavy-handed, but it’s set in Oklahoma, so what the hell. It’s also a pleasure to continually see John Collum gracing New York stages, but what in God’s name does he do between his first act appearance and the curtain call three hours later? He must get in a lot of reading. Regardless, it’s a completely engrossing and entertaining evening. I mean, I yawned through parts of
Shrek but never got bored during
August - although I guess that may be more a reflection of the (mediocre) quality of
Shrek than the quality of
August.
The week before
August, Trish and I got to check out William H. Macy’s performance in
Speed the Plow. This star-infused three hander is an interesting slip of a play that seems more of an overblown character study than anything else. But Macy and Raul Esparza tear it up in some flashy West Coast stereotypes. Elizabeth Moss is sufficient, but in my opinion, isn’t traditionally beautiful enough for the role. She gives a good performance, but frankly (spoiler) I’m not sure guys would be placing bets with each other to fuck her. She also has the unfortunate task of trying to compete with stage all-stars Macy and Esparza. And though she acquits herself admirably, the superior stage veterans bookending her performance only magnify her “average”-ness. But since it’s her Broadway debut, I guess I can give her some leeway. The real treat was watching the Macy-Esparza duo spitting through the rapid-fire Mamet dialogue. God only knows how Madonna was able to even memorize all the dialogue, let alone speak it in any natural manner when she created the role for Broadway in the early 90’s. I won’t even speculate on the rumors swirling around Jeremy Piven’s mercury-induced exit from the production. All I can say is that he must have been shoveling in shitloads of sushi everyday.
Since it’s been over a week since I’ve seen these shows, I guess I’ll just jot down my overall impressions. As far as the two plays, August: OC left the most lasting impression. Who’d have guessed a one set, family drama could actually sustain an audience’s interest for over three hours? I mean, I’m wary of anything that boasts two intermissions. That’s just asking for bad ticket sales. But the audience seemed genuinely riveted. Yeah, many of the family secrets revealed over the course of the evening do border on soap opera territory. But the strength of the performances coupled with the playwright’s gift to humanize even the most detestable characters, keeps the evening from slipping into parody. Honestly, who can’t relate to family dysfunction - can I get an “Amen”? I even found myself thinking that my family’s past get-togethers could rival just about anything happening on that stage. Okay, so maybe the symbolism of the Indian is a little heavy-handed, but it’s set in Oklahoma, so what the hell. It’s also a pleasure to continually see John Collum gracing New York stages, but what in God’s name does he do between his first act appearance and the curtain call three hours later? He must get in a lot of reading. Regardless, it’s a completely engrossing and entertaining evening. I mean, I yawned through parts of Shrek but never got bored during August - although I guess that may be more a reflection of the (mediocre) quality of Shrek than the quality of August.
The week before August, Trish and I got to check out William H. Macy’s performance in Speed the Plow. This star-infused three hander is an interesting slip of a play that seems more of an overblown character study than anything else. But Macy and Raul Esparza tear it up in some flashy West Coast stereotypes. Elizabeth Moss is sufficient, but in my opinion, isn’t traditionally beautiful enough for the role. She gives a good performance, but frankly (spoiler) I’m not sure guys would be placing bets with each other to fuck her. She also has the unfortunate task of trying to compete with stage all-stars Macy and Esparza. And though she acquits herself admirably, the superior stage veterans bookending her performance only magnify her “average”-ness. But since it’s her Broadway debut, I guess I can give her some leeway. The real treat was watching the Macy-Esparza duo spitting through the rapid-fire Mamet dialogue. God only knows how Madonna was able to even memorize all the dialogue, let alone speak it in any natural manner when she created the role for Broadway in the early 90’s. I won’t even speculate on the rumors swirling around Jeremy Piven’s mercury-induced exit from the production. All I can say is that he must have been shoveling in shitloads of sushi everyday.
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