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
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:
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.
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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