Monday, January 17, 2011

Theater Review: Blood from a Stone


Ethan Hawke, Ann Dowd. Photo: Monique Carboni


Dysfunction Gets Another Go-Round in Playwright’s Debut
By Lauren Yarger
Tommy Nohilly has reached for an old standby theme for his playwriting debut in Blood from a Stone – dysfunction – and finds it to such an extreme that he makes the folks over at August: Osage County look like the Brady Bunch.

The New Group’s Production of Blood from a Stone Off Broadway is enhanced by some fine performances, tightly directed by Scott Elliott, but because the play never really develops beyond “mother and father hate each other with every fiber of their beings” we never understand why this family is in such bad shape, or end up caring about any of the rather unlikable folks.

Ann Dowd gives a dynamic performance as Margaret, full of hatred and venom for husband, Bill (Gordon Clapp), but with a soft spot for favorite son Travis (Ethan Hawke, in a good, layered performance) who has stopped back home for a visit. His brother, Matt (Thomas Gurley), steels from the family members to support his gambling habit. He sides with Dad in the conflicts. The other sibling, Sarah (Natasha Lyonne) is caught in the middle of the messy household, where mother and father live on separate floors of their New Britain, CT home (designed in all its shabbiness by Derek McLane) and don’t even share contents in the refrigerator, so strong is their dislike for each other.

Meanwhile, Bill tries to manage his violent temper and keeps forcing his “friend,” Deborah, on the children who, with the exception of Sarah, who’s trying to make a go of normalcy with her growing family, have affairs of their own to worry about. Travis, addicted to his mom’s pain pills, has taken up with old girlfriend Yvette (Daphne Rubin-Vega) who lives next door with her unsuspecting husband. Matt is leaving his wife and kids to have an affair with a married woman and even Margaret has a “friend” on the side. Every-day occurrences in this house involve throwing kitchen cabinets, punching out windows and some of the darkest verbal threats family members ever have uttered to one another.

Believe me, no matter how bad you think your family is, there’s a good chance you’ll be glad you’re related to them instead of this clan. I don’t even want to know where Dowd has to reach on an emotional level to maintain such a dark and hopeless character. Margaret’s one outlet for love is her cat, but even the poor animal can’t escape the sadness that surrounds this family.

The dark interactions really are all that happen in this play, however, despite the promise of potential in the playwright’s first effort. Nohilly’s characters are interesting and lend themselves to some great acting, but without any explanation of how these folks got here (why is this venom-filled couple still sharing the same house, and what is the cause of such festering dislike?), the play fails to justify its almost three-hour run time.

It runs through Feb. 19 at the Acorn Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street. For tickets, visit http://www.thenewgroup.org/.
Christians might also like to know:
• Language
• Lord’s name taken in vain
• Sexual activity
• Partial nudity

2 comments:

Retta Blaney, M.A., M.F.A. said...

I've learned to avoid the New Group.
As usual, you've written a balanced review. I'm glad you liked Ann Dowd's performance. I loved her as Sr. Maureen in the too-good-for-television series "Nothing Sacred," and her stage work is always excellent. I had a good interview with her for my book "Working on the Inside: The Spiritual Life Through the Eyes of Actors." She offered great advice on self-knowledge.

LaurenYarger said...

Her name sounded familiar, but I couldn't figure out why since I couldn't remember having seen her in anything. Must be from your book!

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

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All material is copyright 2008- 2022 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

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The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

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