Superior Donuts

Well, the title of Tracy Letts’ new play is intriguing enough. And given his previous Broadway outing, August: Osage County, garnered a best play Tony with Hollywood’s A-List-ers scratching each other’s eyes out for a chance at the Oscar-bait leading roles in the upcoming movie version (the chat rooms are buzzing that Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts are interested), my expectations were set pretty high.

Like AOC, the dialogue was quick, witty and full of some great one-liners (as one character is left dumb-founded for an answer, another retorts “you’re like George Bush on Jeopardy”). But unlike the brilliant dinner table blow-out in AOC, the final conflict - the fight between Arthur and Luther - was so badly choreographed it was almost laughable. Both actors seemed incredibly awkward and every punch and kick moved just a hair too slow to be believable. They either need to scrap the fight entirely or re-choreograph.

As far as the play, it’s solid. Although some of the peripheral characters border on cliché (the loud Russian immigrant, the rough-around-the-edges Irish lady cop, the crazy old alcoholic lady, etc.). But they’re all extremely likeable in a “Cheers” sort of way. The cast is solid to outstanding, especially Jon Michael Hill as the aspiring black writer. His relationship with the middle-aged hippie, Arthur, produces the play’s best verbal repartee.

I question the directorial choice of leaving the stage slightly lit during Arthur’s monologues. Intellectually, I understand what the director seems to be doing, but seeing the other actors move furniture while a main character is imparting important information seems defeatist.