The Great Recession

GRADE: C



By Various Authors. Directed by Various Directors. At the Flea. Through December 30th.

( UPDATE: Two late breaking reviews say pretty much the opposite of what you'll find in the rest of this paragraph, which was written based on the initial crop of negative reviews.) The Flea resorts to Off-Off Broadway's oldest trick in the ticket selling book, a night of somewhat interrelated short plays by various writers, ensuring larger casts with larger groups of friends needing to see the show while spending less money on labor than a full production with the same cast would cost. This being The Flea, the playwrights are heavy hitters-- Itamar Moses, Adam Rapp, Sheila Callaghan, Thomas Bradshaw and Will Eno-- and the actors are the Flea's non-union apprentice company The Bats. The directors (including Kip Fagan, Jim Simpson and Ethan McSweeney) are no slouches either. The theme is the economic crisis. The results, according to critics, are largely as these things always end up, intermittently entertaining but ultimately less than the sum of their parts. What's left for them to argue about is which shorts work and which don't, with no consensus favorites forming at all.

NYTheatre A
(David Ian Lee) Too often, festival presentations of one-acts play as hodgepodges of intermittently related material, with grievous shifts in tone and quality. Such is not the case with The Great Recession: the evening's connective tissue has been cultivated with fiendish wit and propinquity. Expedient scene shifts are shaped by character (and are sprinkled with good-natured nudity; this brilliantly serves the double purpose of inoculating the audience from the shock of flesh later bared for darker purposes), and though few of the actors appear in multiple roles, the ensemble feels as tight-knit as the tiniest of repertories. Indeed, when the full 50-plus person cast appears for their curtain call, there is additional awe and wonder in the uniformity and collective spirit of such a large company. As a parting salutation, the curtain call itself is staged with humility and genuine gratitude. The Great Recession earned a standing ovation the night I attended, though the production virtually necessitated one after this graceful, final touch.

The L Magazine A-
(Robert Tumas) With six shorts, none harps for too long on any one trope of stereotypically hard times and focus instead on the people involved in experiencing them. There are a few moments in the production that border on a sort of holiday nostalgia and sap that I could have probably done with out, but the total effect was absolutely captivating and left me wanting more. If the recession has affected you in any way, you must go see this play—and if nothing else, they sell Keystone Light cans for a dollar at intermission, so it's the cheapest beer in town.

Backstage B
(David Sheward) In terms of volume, "The Great Recession" is certainly a bargain. Sporting six one-act plays and a cast of more than 50, this program presented by the Flea Theater offers plenty to chew on, though some of the fare is definitely fast food. Played with great energy and specificity by the Bats, the Flea's resident company of young actors, the six plays are fast and furious snapshots of the effects of the world economic downturn. Some are funny and touching; a few are screeds of horror with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

Lighting & Sound America B-
(David Barbour) Somebody at the Flea Theatre -- probably Jim Simpson, the inventive artistic director -- had the idea of commissioning a batch of short plays tied to the current economic mess and its effect on today's young adults. It was probably inevitable that the resulting six-pack -- known as The Great Recession -- would be wildly uneven, but it has its moments, and it allows one to get a look at the theatre's talented young acting company, The Bats. The most successful plays are those that get at the theme in sideways fashion, rather than head-on... If The Great Recession is better in theory than in execution, it's an appealing idea, one that I hope the Flea will apply to other themes.

Time Out New York B-
(Adam Feldman)In his recent TONY interview, the monologuist Mike Daisey bemoaned the institutional slowness of American theater, and used the scarcity of responses to the financial crisis as an example of this problem. So the Flea Theatre’s Jim Simpson should be congratulated for corralling six of the city’s best rising playwrights to tackle the subject head-on in The Great Recession, a collection of playlets (each 15 to 20 minutes long) performed by three dozen members of the Bats, the Flea’s below-the-radar acting company...if this topical anthology isn’t always great, at least it is not recessive.

Theatermania C+
(Patrick Lee) For The Great Recession, currently at The Flea Theatre, six of theater's hippest playwrights were engaged to write short plays related to the current recession and its effects on young people. While some are more successful than others, the hit-or-miss evening doesn't cohere nearly as well as one would hope.

Variety C-
(Sam Thielman) Short play collections are always a mixed bag, but rarely are they as mixed as the Flea Theater's The Great Recession. Boasting some of Off Broadway's most popular writers, the anthology varies wildly in tone from dystopian dirge to cynical comedy. The best of the bunch are Will Eno's ruminative "Unum" and Thomas Bradshaw's hilariously biting "New York Living," both of which manage to mine new seams in the much-discussed terrain of the financial crisis.

NY Post D+
(Frank Scheck) Forget the economy. What this well-intentioned but shallow evening shows is that what theater really needs is an intellectual stimulus program.

The New York Times D
(Charles Isherwood) Writing to theme can be challenging, and most of the work here feels sketchy, unfocused or simply banal. Even “Unum” does not represent Mr. Eno, the talented author of “Thom Paine (based on nothing),” at his most inspired.



NYTH A 13; TLM A- 12; BS B 10; LSA B- 9; TONY B-9; TM C+ 8; V C- 6; NYP D+ 5; NYT D 4; TOTAL: 76/8 = 9.5 (B/B-)

Read On »

A Light Lunch

GRADE: C+

By A.R. Gurney. Dir. Jim Simpson. Flea Theatre. (CLOSED)

One of the more unlikely artistic partnerships in downtown theatre--that of brittle WASP chronicler A.R. Gurney with Jim Simpson's mostly edgy Flea Theatre--reaches a culmination of sorts with what we can only assume is Gurney's final Bush-bashing comedy. A few critics were respectfully amused by Gurney's self-deprecating meta-plot, about Bush 43's efforts to suppress a play by Gurney, and nearly all of them praised the performances of the Flea's young actors. But most found the effort insufficiently amusing, inventive, or trenchant. (And for the record, only two critics made timely references to Iraqi shoe-tossing.)

Theatermania A-
(Barbara & Scott Siegel) A model of political theater. The beauty of it is that its politics and its theater could not be more inextricably bound. Exquisitely self-aware, A Light Lunch uses the theater...to make serio-comic points about George Bush throughout the play...Make no mistake, much of the plot is a contrivance, but we are happy to indulge Gurney, because we know that the playwright does not come to praise Bush, he comes to bury him. The play is fluidly directed by Jim Simpson, and the cast play their roles adroitly.

News-Times B+
(Chesley Plemmons) It's clear from the start that...Gurney must have had a high old time with "A Light Lunch." "Lunch" is both an inside joke about the theater and a clever--but not excessively caustic--evaluation of the Bush presidency...Though the issues are serious the youthful nature of all four characters keeps everything light--like the lunch--and airy...A word of advice--if you find yourself in a restaurant in the theater district and your waiter or waitress announces him or herself as your server and has a name that sounds suspiciously like it came from a play--quick!--get another table.

CurtainUp B
(Elyse Sommer) It's an amusing premise and Gurney's willingness to poke fun at himself provides A Light Lunch with its best laugh lines...Hoyt and Lipinski are attractive, capable actors and Havilah Brewster ratchets up the deal making's comic potenial as Viola, their aggressively intrusive wannabe-actor/server. But despite the Flea's artistic director Jim Simpson's best efforts, there's no getting away from the fact that the adjective defining the titular lunch also applies to the play.

Variety B-
(Sam Thielman) A. R. Gurney's jokey new play, A Light Lunch, is refreshingly unlike most contempo American political theater. Sadly, that's more or less all it has going for it--Flea Theater a.d. Jim Simpson's production OD's on wackiness, overplaying Gurney's featherweight humor and shticky characters without pausing to let some of the writer's wiser notions sink in...Ultimately, A Light Lunch feels less like a play within a play than a workshop within a workshop.

Village Voice B-
(Alexis Soloski) Gurney's enjoyably flimsy farce...lacks the bite of Gurney's other Bush-critical political comedies, also directed by Simpson...Though it runs only 75 minutes, the production feels frustratingly overlong, a one-act stretched into a full-length, an appetizer masquerading as an entrée. The metatheatrical gags pall as Gurney searches for more reasons to extend his lunch hour, but largely fails to find them. The cast, however—composed of Flea resident company the Bats—acquit themselves nicely, particularly Hoyt as the amiably unscrupulous Beth.

Backstage C+
(David Sheward) Pointed political observations are mixed with slightly stale cultural stereotypes for an only mildly pleasing confection...Gurney has fun mocking theatrical conventions, and Flea artistic director Jim Simpson gives the staging a breezy spin...This Light Lunch leaves us hungry and unsatisfied.

New York Post C
(Frank Scheck) A mildly entertaining but minor satire that too often seems less concerned with its ostensible target than with the playwright himself...To his credit, the playwright injects generous doses of self-mockery into the proceedings. "Has Gurney written many plays?" the lawyer asks the agent, who replies, "Too many, according to some critics." But even by the loosest standards for satire, this play is too contrived and silly to score its intended points...An unsubstantial repast.

The New Yorker C-
It’s clear, in this trifle of a play, that Gurney has a few suggestions for Bush about how he might handle his exit from office. While the actors seem to be enjoying themselves pummelling Bush, the audience is left to eavesdrop on yet another uninspiring conversation about politics.

Offoffonline C-
(William Coyle) Criticizing A.R. Gurney’s plays for lack of depth is like criticizing your Toyota Prius for not winning NASCAR—you should know what you’re buying right from the start...Gurney is at his best when he's light. His plays are nearly always entertaining—sometimes even exhilarating, if not quite profound. Yet, A Light Lunch...feels like a throwaway, a diversion. At one point it a
lludes to itself as an aborted work. It’s light, even by Gurney’s standards.

The New York Times D+
(Charles Isherwood) The gentlemanly playwright A. R. Gurney casually tosses his own metaphorical shoe—a penny loafer? a Top-Sider?—in the direction of our departing president in his latest politically minded play...I’m afraid Mr. Gurney’s aim is not as true, or his motivation as urgent, as that of the Iraqi shoe-hurler...Unlike “Mrs. Farnsworth,” Mr. Gurney’s likewise forgettable but more sturdily constructed raspberry blown at Mr. Bush, this play is little more than an overextended joke endlessly in search of a suitable payoff, and feels padded at a mere 75 minutes.

Time Out NY D
(Adam Feldman) Gurney acknowledges the play’s skimpiness in his title, but to call this a lunch at all is misleading; it is a picked-over plate of crudités...All four actors are likable; the real main character is the offstage author, however, and he’s underdeveloped. Gurney, who has written several Bush-bashing comedies for the Flea in recent years, uses this one to get in a few last licks at the departing president. But licking is not biting: This is pretty toothless stuff.

Theatermania A- 12; News-Times B+ 11; CurtainUp B 10; Variety B- 9; Village Voice B- 9; Backstage C+ 8; New York Post C 7; The New Yorker C- 6; Offoffonline C- 6; The New York Times D+ 5; Time Out NY D 4; TOTAL: 87 / 11 = 7.9 (C+)

Read On »

Dawn

GRADE: B

By Thomas Bradshaw. Dir. Jim Simpson. The Flea Theatre. (CLOSED)

Practiced provocateur Thomas Bradshaw again divides critics with this seemingly earnest tale of an aging alcoholic businessman and the mess of a family he's left in his wake, but this time the discord is less over shock value than tone. Is this a parody of a dysfunctional family play or the genuine article? Has director Jim Simpson's production ladled the irony on too thick or too thin? Above all, is this a breakthrough for Bradshaw, or more of the same audience-tweaking? Wherever they came down, most critics praised either Gerry Bamman or Drew Hildebrand's lead performance (or both).

Theatermania A
(Dan Balcazo) Potent and disturbing...The work wrestles with a number of hot-button topics, and poses moral and ethical questions that would seem to be clear cut, but are surprisingly murky...Bamman is consistently compelling and his non-verbal expressions in the early part of the play do much to lighten the mood of the piece, while his defeated body language in the last couple scenes add to Hampton's sense of loss and confusion...The excellent Hildebrand manages to be both charming and creepy, often at the same time...In some respects, Dawn seems to parody the genre of the dysfunctional family drama...And yet, it's in earnest.

Nytheatre.com A
(Peter Schuyler) This may arguably be Bradshaw's best play. There is a level of nuance here that is not present in his earlier work...There is still plenty of shock value...but it is tempered by the reality of the situation...A large part of this is due to Jim Simpson's expert direction. Simpson has found an almost perfect balance between the humor and horror inherent in the script and as such our attention never wavers...It will be a sad statement about the NYC theatergoing public if there is one empty seat in the house for the rest of this show's run.

Time Out NY A-
(Rob Weinert-Kendt) At first glance, this is a disarmingly straightforward recovery drama, as aging alcoholic Hampton (Gerry Bamman) gets a stab at reformation after his drinking literally stops his heart...Under Jim Simpson’s nuanced but unequivocal direction, Bamman—balding, sloe-eyed, looking a bit like Fred Thompson’s unassuming younger brother—is a perfectly unprepossessing lead for Bradshaw’s bitter, inexorable tragedy. You may find this droopy drunk funny, but the laugh is sure to stick in your throat like the toothpick in a martini olive.

That Sounds Cool A-
(Aaron Riccio) Bradshaw, assisted here by Jim Simpson’s exaggeratedly comic and set-less transparency, defies expectations so as to make the audience question their own ingrained assumptions...All the things that happen in Dawn happen in the same world, with our morality becoming quicksilver in the scorching light of Bradshaw’s drama...It is not about judging these characters so much as it is about understanding them, and in that depth, knowing that we are all connected, as much in our sorrows as in our joys.

The New York Times B
(Neil Genzlinger) The play...spends a very long time rolling out what appears to be an ordinary tale of a man finding salvation through Alcoholics Anonymous...From any other playwright this might seem like bracing naturalism. With Mr. Bradshaw’s reputation, though, it’s likely to prompt a reaction of: "All right, we get it. Now move along to the scandalous stuff"...The shock value here isn’t as strong as in some of Mr. Bradshaw’s other works...which makes the piece more effective in many ways.

CurtainUp B
(Jenny Sandman) This disturbing play would probably be even more powerful were the script not so choppy. Each scene is short and usually requires some sort of set change...Fortunately the cast is strong. Standouts are Gerry Bamman as Hampton and Drew Hildebrand as Steven. Bamman manages to play a sodden drunk without appearing completely pathetic, and Hildebrand plays a charismatic pedophile.

The New Yorker C+
In his most daring and mature work to date, Bradshaw seems to be posing some serious questions about the banalities of the "great American epic family drama" genre. Unfortunately, under the glib direction of Jim Simpson, who seems more interested in the play’s cheap shocks, only a few of the actors (notably Gerry Bamman and Laura Esterman) seem to be in on the joke. The result is a confusing, static treatment of a script that deserves better.

Village Voice C+
(Christopher Grobe) Bradshaw concedes, in an author's note, that there is "irony" in the play, but he asks that it be "underplayed." Instead, Simpson adds cartoonish sound effects and digital supertitles to alienate us from the script—to encourage us, for instance, to snicker at the obsessive rituals of a desperate alcoholic hiding his booze. Gerry Bamman brings an affecting nakedness to the character of this alcoholic, and Jenny Seastone Stern is startlingly earnest as his granddaughter...A more thoroughly ironic production might have made breakthrough moments of earnestness more poignant.

Variety D
(Sam Thielman) Gleefully ugly...The longer you think about the piece's intentionally stilted dialogue and revolting set pieces, the more you may get the sense you've just sat through a bleak, black comedy, without getting the joke...The heaping helpings of irony ward off empathy at every turn, like giant quote marks around some of the most disgusting encounters in human experience--maybe it's art, but it sure does make you want to take a shower...The bottom line seems to be that Bradshaw is less interested in his characters' relationships to one another than he is in his own relationship to the audience.

Theatermania A 13; Nytheatre.com A 13; Time Out NY A- 12; That Sounds Cool A- 12; The New York Times B 10; CurtainUp B 10; The New Yorker C+ 8; Village Voice C+ 8; Variety D 4; TOTAL: 90 / 9 = 10 (B)

Read On »