The Flick

The Flick

Barrow Street Theatre

August 23, 2015

Photo courtesy of amazon.com

I came across The Flick, Annie Baker’s Pulitzer Prize winning script, in a few different bookstores and websites.  When I was in college, I worked as an usher in the Loews Oriental movie theater in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn with two of my very good friends.  Back in the day it was the place to be, so the concept of the play intrigued me.  I decided to buy a copy.  My first read of Annie Baker’s play did not deliver what I had hoped.  Why did it win the Pulitzer Prize?  With that question in mind I got a ticket to the remounted Off Broadway production at the Barrow Street Theatre, and found my answer.

The play opens on Avery’s (Aaron Clifton Moten) first day on his new job at the Flick, one of the last 35 millimeter, single screen movie houses in central Massachusetts.  Sam (Matthew Maher) is showing him the ropes.  Clearly there is not much skill in sweeping up popcorn and cleaning the soda machine, but for Sam this is a big deal.  Rose (Louisa Krause) is the projectionist, a high ranking position, love interest of Sam, and the cause of some mistrust between the boys.  All three actors are very well cast and create true moments to establish honest, relatable characters and relationships.

Louisa Krause and Aaron Clifton Moten
Photo courtesy of The Flick at Barrow Street Theatre

The play is long (3 hours, 15 minutes - with intermission).  At the end of the first act Ms. Baker gives us insight into Avery’s character, which clarifies his distanced behavior.  She skillfully holds back the truth of his experiences, then reveals it right before intermission.  This leaves the audience wanting more, which is a great feat after a one hour and forty minute first act.  She delivers a second act with depth and metaphor that ties everything together.  Life is like a celluloid film, where each frame is separated by darkness and shadow.  We are individuals, not identical like pixels in a digital movie.  Some things from the past need to be cherished and preserved as life progresses.

Aaron Clifton Moten, Mathew Maher, Louisa Krause
Photo courtesy of The Flick at Barrow Street Theatre

Since the play is set in a movie theatre, rows and rows of seats fill the stage facing the audience.  The set, by David Zinn, is extremely realistic, yet limits the playing area and inhibits the actors’ movement.  The rows of seats constantly separate them, forcing them to face away from one another when seated.  Is this a poor design decision or an ingenious physical obstacle that characters have to overcome in order to connect?  These are the kind of subtleties in the production and script’s concept that make it a strong work.  Is the play slowly paced, or is the pace representative of the shadow between the frames of a 35 millimeter film that enhances the experience?

What are the criteria for a script to win the Pulitzer Prize?  My first read of Annie Baker’s script make me wonder, and do some research (click for Pulitzer Prize Criteria / click for Pulitzer Prize Winners).  Seeing the play make me understand why it won, even though I think they could have picked up the pace of Act I.  See it and decide for yourself.

Domenick Danza