By Lauren Yarger
When talented Frank Langella plays bad, he's good, even when he's in a play that isn't all that great. That's true of his latest appearance on Broadway as a sleasy, uncaring financier in Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Terence Rattigan's Man and Boy.
Langella is Gregor Antonescu, the man credited with saving Europe after World War I, who now is avoiding the press seeking details about a failed merger that could lead to his collapse and a crash of the stock market. He decides to hide out at the basement Greenwich Village home of his estranged anti-capitalist, socialist son Basil (Adam Driver).
Basil inexplicably lets his father meet with his cronies: trusted right hand Sven Johnson (Michael Siberry), accountant David Beeston (Brian Hutchinson), who has found discrepancies in the merger figures, and Mark Herries (Zach Grenier), head of American Electric, part of the merger. Also dropping by is Gregor's wife, the Countess Antonescu (Francesca Faridany), from whose foundation he embezzles funds. During most of this, Basil takes a nap in the bedroom, which is cut away stage left next to the living area of the apartment ( Derek McLane, set design). Eventually, a couple of other people nap in the bedroom too, though why we need to see this isn't clear.
Langella, directed by Maria Aitken, creates a pretty unlikable character who thinks nothing of disrupting his son's life, then shows disdain for Basil's career as a piano player in a club, for his choice in liquor and in women, stopping only to rearrange the furniture to suit his own purpose. We come to understand why Basil washed his hands of his father and changed his last name following his coming of age party back in the old country. Before it's all over, there is some question as to who really is the "man" and who is the "boy."
With the current economy in a mess and some fearful politicians and people blaming Wall Street for an uncertain future, the play's topic is just as timely now as it was in 1934 when it is set (on Saturday when I attended, the noise of protesters occupying Times Square and sirens indicative of more than 100 arrests made that day could be heard outside the theater during the performance, providing an obvious current application.)
But, man, oh, boy, the play feels more like a draft than a finished piece. The character of Basil's girlfriend, Carol Penn (Virginia Kull), doesn't seem to contribute much to the action except for giving us a gratuitous nude scene to open the play. She never returns after she leaves fairly early in act one. Basil, whose loathing of his father we come to understand, suddenly cares about him and is all concerned about helping him. Why? We don't know. Sven, asked to perform a ridiculous favor for Gregor, inexplicably does. The Countess, asked to do a favor, inexplicably doesn't. And beyond these plot questions, the dialogue can be rather dry and tedious at times, making us wish we could join the nappers up there on the bed. Resist the temptation, though, because it is worth watching Langella in action, He snarls with such panache that he makes us feel sorry for the cigarette Gregor holds in his sleasy hand.
Man and Boy plays through Nov. 27 at American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St, NYC. Tickets: 212-719-1300 or www.roundabouttheatre.org.
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