Off-Broadway Theater Review: Williston

Kate Grimes and Robert LuPone. Photo: Jeremy Daniel

Williston
By Adam Seidel
Directed by Valentina Fratti
Miranda Theatre Company
Through Nov. 10

By Lauren Yarger
Something's not quite right in the small town of Williston, North Dakota.

That much is obvious just from the fact that oil company deal closers Barb (Kate Grimes) and Larry (Robert LuPone) are expected to share quarters in a trailer camp setting (drably designed Graham Kindred, who also designs the lighting). And how is it that their parent company didn't let them know that they were sending a new numbers guy, Tom (Drew Ledbetter) to bring in the lease on one of the largest and possibly most productive tracts of land? After all, the killer team of Barb and Larry has been working for years on "Indian Jim," the Native American holdout who is reluctant to allow drilling on his land.

Playwright Adam Seidel crafts a nifty three-hander where everything and everyone is not as it seems. A greedy corporate message takes a back seat in this work to the interaction among characters. We think we might know them. They may even think they know themselves, but when push comes to shove, .what they are willing to do to get ahead, make a buck and grab some power surprises all.

Deftly directed by Valentina Fratti, the actors are given the freedom to unwrap layers. Fratti keeps the action moving around the small stage to mimic the ever-changing status of the characters and their relationships to each other.  We even experience a meeting where six other people are unseen.

Grimes goes deep as the seasoned woman who knows how to hold her own and get ahead in a man's world. There are hints at more than just a business relationship between her and long-time collaborator, Larry. LuPone portrays a tough guy on the outside, but stuns with the revelation of a scared vulnerable man just under the surface.  Ledbetter strikes a nice balance between his character's innocent newbie facade and the ruthless power grabber who hides waiting for a chance to strike without mercy.

Just how far are people willing to go? In Williston, pretty far...

The limited run plays at IATI Theatre, 64 E 4th St., NYC, through Nov. 10 mirandatheatrecompany.com. There is a clever surprise takeaway at the conclusion of the 90-minute production.

Additional Credits: costume design by Matsy Stinson, sound design by Margaret Montagna.

FAMILY-FRIENDLY FACTORS:
-- Language (lots of it)
-- Lord's name taken in vain (lots of times)

Broadway Theater Review: The Waverly Gallery -- TOP PICK

Lucas Hedges, Elaine May, Joan Allen, David Cromer, Michael Cera. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

The Waverly Gallery
By Kenneth Lonergan
Directed by Lila Neugebauer

Golden Theatre

By Lauren Yarger
The Waverly Gallery in Greenwich Village has seen better days, It's not longer a vital part of the art landscape. No one comes in or thinks what it has to offer is important. The same can be said for its owner, elderly Gladys Green, played with astonishing alacrity and pathos by Elaine May, who no doubt will be nominated for a Tony.

With her mind and hearing fading, Gladys spends her days at the gallery passing time waiting for someone to come in and buy the less than exciting art displayed on its walls. When she's not there, she lives in an apartment behind the shop. As her health deteriorates, the anxiety of her family increases, especially as she repeats family stories ad nauseam and keeps messing with her hearing aid settings so the family has to incessantly yell or adjust them for her. Her grandson, Daniel (Lucas Hedges, who snagged an Oscar nomination for his role in playwright Kenneth Lonergan's film "Manchester by the Sea," making a noteworthy Broadway debut) lives next door and increasingly spends sleepless nights as his grandmother rings his bell to check in or ask for help.

Daughter Ellen Fine (a fabulous Joan Allen) knows what needs to happen. Her mother can't be on her own and must move in with her and her husband, Howard (a jovial David Cromer getting some time on stage instead of off stage where he has distinguished himself as one of Broadway's finest directors). She dreads it, though, and doesn't think she will survive the arrangement.  The family gets a little help from Don Bowman (Michael Cera), an awkward guy from Boston who fancies himself a talented artist. Gladys offers him a place to stay and his dream come true: a show in a Greenwich Village gallery. Don helps look after Gladys a bit, but disaster strikes when the building owner decides to turn the gallery into a restaurant and gives Gladys her notice.

The story is told through the eyes of Daniel, who steps out of the action (with excellent lighting by Brian MacDevitt)  to serve as a narrator from time to time. His rapport with the audience is not severed when he returns to the action and we cannot help but appreciate his subtle humor.

David Zinn's set creates a feeling of imposing doom as a second story of brick towers above the gallery location with exterior walls blocking escape. Director Lila Neugebauer expertly guides time passages and our heart breaks as Gladys deteriorates. Allen's performance as the daughter torn between loves, duty and despair is gut-wrenching. May's fear as she realizes what is happening to her -- then when she doesn't understand any more what is happening to her -- is palpable. The 86-year-old gives a bold, extraordinary performance that should not be missed.

May's iconic show An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May played the Golden Theatre  in 1960. She is a Grammy Award winner and an Academy and Golden Globe Award nominee (and like I said, be will be adding Tony-Award nominee to that in May...)

Lonergan's script is a delight. He packs an amazing amount of character development, engaging dialogue and emotion in to just two hours and 10 minutes. It deserved its Pulitzer Prize nomination in 2000.

More information:

The Waverly Gallery plays at the John Golden Theatre, 252 W, 45th St., NYC. thewaverlygalleryonbroadway.com

Additional Credits:

Ann Roth (Costume Design), Leon Rothenberg (Sound Design), Tal Yarden (Projection Design) and Luc Verschueren and Campbell Young Associates (Hair and Makeup Design).

FAMILY-FRIENDLY FACTORS:

--Language

--God's name taken in vain

Listen to my review on the radio at
http://www.audreyrusso.com/Lauren_Yarger_1118_intro.mp3

Broadway Theater Review: The Ferryman

The company. Photo: Joan Marcus

The Ferryman

Credit:

© 2018 Joan Mar

The Ferryman
By Jez Butterworth
Directed by Sam Mendes.
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre

By Lauren Yarger

It's 1981 in Northern Ireland and the happy Carney clan has gathered for the harvest, but the local priest (Charles Dale) and an ominous visitor  from the IRA (Stuart Graham) threaten their happy celebrations. The family finally discovers what happened to their beloved Seamus, who disappeared more 20 years ago, leaving behind his wife, Caitlyn (Laura Donnelly) and son, Oison (Rob Malone). 

They stayed on with Seamus's brother Quinn (Paddy Considine) and his invalid wife, Mary (Genevieve O'Reilly) and their seven children (one of whom is a baby who charms the entire audience). Filling out the household, in which playwright Jez Butterworth evokes the best of the eclectic family of You Can't Take It with You, are humorous Uncle Pat (an engaging Mark Lambert), not to be confused with Aunt Pat (Dearbhla Molloy) and Aunt Maggie Far Away (Fionnula Flanagan), the elderly aunt who entertains the children with her adventures in other times and places as she fades in and out of dementia while parked just off the action in her wheelchair. 

A slow-witted Englishman named Tom Kettle (Justin Edwards) and some visiting Corcoran cousins, including Shane (Tom Glynn-Carney), who might have ties with Seamas's disappearance, add to the tension -- and the crowd on stage. Rounding out the ensemble are Dean Ashton, Glynis Bell, Peter Bradbury, Trevor Harrison Braun, Sean Frank Coffey, Will Coombs, Gina Costigan,  Fra Fee, Carly Gold, Cooper Gomes, Holly Gould, Carla Langley, Matilda Lawler, Conor MacNeill, Michael McArthur, Willow McCarthy, Colin McPhillamy, Bella May Mordus, Griffin Osborne, Brooklyn Shuck, Glenn Speers, Rafael West Vallés, and Niall Wright.

Sam Mendes directs the Royal Court Theatre production with excellence, setting an undercurrent of unrest despite the seemingly happy existence of the family, marked by singing, dancing (choreography by Scarlett Mackmin) and cute animals trained by William Berloni. But inside, dark secrets threaten to cloud the external. The ferryman, after all, is a reference to Caron, the mythologcal transporter of souls across the River Styx. A surprise twist at the end of the three-hour, 15 minute run will have you gasping.

Rob Howell helps create the atmosphere with scenic and costume design, aided by Peter Mumford;s lighting design), Nick Powell's sound design and original music.

More information:

The Ferryman opened at The Royal Court in May 2017 and was the fastest selling play in the theater’s history. The sold-out show transferred to the Gielgud Theatre in London’s West End. In London, The Ferryman won three 2018 Olivier Awards, including Best New Play (marking Butterworth’s second Olivier win), Best Actress Donnelly and Best Director  Mendes (marking his fourth Olivier win). 

The Ferryman runs at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, 242 W. 45th St., NYC. theferrymanbroadway.com

Additional credits:

Tim Hoare (associate director), Benjamin Endsley Klein (resident director), Campbell Young Associates (hair, wigs and makeup design), Terry King (UK fight director), Thomas Schall (US fight director), Majella Hurley (UK dialect coach), and Deborah Hecht (US dialect coach).

FAMILY-FRIENDLY FACTORS:

-- Language

-- Violence

-- God's name taken in vain

Listen to my review of The Ferryman on radio:
http://www.audreyrusso.com/Lauren_Yarger_1118_intro.mp3