Judgment Day

Judgment Day

The Park Avenue Armory

December 14, 2019

Photo courtesy of The Park Avenue Armory

The Park Avenue Armory production of Judgment Day is spectacular.  Director Richard Jones creates an impressive atmosphere and significant impact, while keeping the action moving at an accelerated pace.  He and Movement Director Anjali Mehra maneuver a cast of seventeen and two monumental set pieces around the Armory’s vast and expansive space with grace and precision.  Christopher Shinn’s adaptation of Ödön von Horváth’s play is skillfully crafted.  The characters are strong.  The underlying themes motivate the action, which builds to a stunning climax.

Luke Kirby & Cast Members
Photo courtesy of The Park Avenue Armory

It is the 1937.  Stationmaster Thomas Hudetz (played by Luke Kirby) is respected by the people of the small town he serves.  His wife (played by Alyssa Bresnahan) is thirteen years his senior, paranoid, and the subject of distasteful gossip from the same people who admire her husband.  When she spies the Inn Keeper’s daughter, Anna (played by Susannah Perkins), flirting with Thomas while he is on the job, she is filled with jealousy.  Anna kisses Thomas, causing him to be distracted and miss the train signal.  His delay in switching the track causes an accident that kills eighteen passengers.  Anna lies to protect Thomas and save her reputation.  She claims she witnessed him switching the tracks before the train passed.  Thomas’ wife confesses what she witnessed, both the kiss and Thomas’ error.  However, her reputation in the town make her less credible.  Anna’s false testimony frees Thomas of prosecution, yet neither of them can escape the guilt that amplifies over time.

Luke Kirby & Susannah Perkins
Photo courtesy of The Park Avenue Armory

Luke Kirby transforms the character of Thomas Hudetz from a meek and vigilant civil servant to a reckless, haunted, and broken man.  While we feel for him, we are also struck by how he buys into the lie that frees him from appropriate consequences.  Susannah Perkins portrays Anna as naïve, young girl, unaware of her own emotion and influence.  The impulses that propel her actions and the affect these actions have on her self-consciousness are astounding.  She and Mr. Kirby are brilliant together.  The discovery of their passion and power combined with their inability to control these emotions are mesmerizing.

Set Design by Paul Steinberg
Photo courtesy of The Park Avenue Armory

There is a synchronicity in the Park Avenue Armory with this production, as the space ignites the energy for the cast and the cast fills the space with life.  You have to experience this production for yourself.  Lighting design by Mimi Jordan Sherin and sound design by Drew Levy and Daniel Kluger create astounding effects.  Judgment Day is playing at the Park Avenue Armory through January 10.  Get your tickets and see it for yourself!

Domenick Danza