Saturday, September 17, 2011

Quick-Hit Theater Review: The Wood

John Viscardi, Vladimir Versailles & Melanie Charles. (c)Sandra Coudert.
The Wood
By Dan Klores
Directed by David Bar Katz

Summary:
The life of  NY Daily News columnist Mike McAlary (John Viscardi), who won a Pulitzer for his coverage of the 1997 rape of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima (Vladimir Versailles) by New York City police officers. The popular, and well-paid columnist, shaken by a news story that results in a massive lawsuit being brought against the paper, struggles with his editor (Thomas Kopache), professional jealousy aimed at him by friend and colleague Tommy (David Deblinger, who embodies the old newspaper reporter persona well) and  concern from his wife, Alice (Kim Director), who wants him to focus on his cancer treatments instead of chasing news leads. McAlary's quest for the wood -- a newspaper slang meaning the large banner headline on page one -- prevails, however, and a tip leads him to the hospital where he talks to traumatized Louima and his wife, Micheline (nicely portrayed by Melanie Charles).

Highlights:
McAlary is a good subject for a play -- an old-fashioned newsman who was relentless in his pursuit of the truth. John McDermott's set design incorporates hospital-room-divider curtains to make scene changes that keep us mindful of the cancer that slowly draws a veil over McAlary's life. Steve Channon provides projection design that further expands the curtains (and the use of newspaper clippings is a nice touch).

Lowlights:
Ironically, the script needs a good editor. Events play out of sequence, disrupting the plot. The rape is detailed in dialogue more than once, then we are forced to watch in an end-of-act-one scene that defies the "leave-them-wanting-more" axiom that usually takes us to intermission. The laborious script never is clear about whether our focus should be on McAlary as a journalist, as a husband or as a dying man (at times focus shifts to Louima as the prejudice-encountering immigrant who came here for a better life). There is no pyramid for this story, or even an inverted one, which as a journalist, McAlary would have liked. The actors try, but the pace is slow.

Christians might light to know:
Rape
Nudity
Graphic Violence

More information:
The Wood runs Off-Broadway through Oct. 9 at Rattlestick Theater, 224 Waverly Place, NYC (off 7th Avenue South, between Perry and West 11th streets.) Tickets are available by calling 212-279-6200, or visit http://www.rattlestick.org/
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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- 2024 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.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

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

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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