The Babylon Line

The Babylon Line

Lincoln Center Theatre

At the Mitzi E. Newhouse

December 31, 2016

Photo courtesy of Lincoln Center Theatre

Lincoln Center Theatre’s production of The Babylon Line is astounding.  Richard Greenberg’s script is prolific.  His characters are bold, honest, peculiar, and real. Director Terry Kinney finds just the right rhythm and flow for the play in order to keep the audience focused on the characters, their challenges, and their connections.

It is 1967 and Aaron Port (played by Josh Radnor) commutes on the Babylon Line to teach a creative writing adult education class in Levittown, Long Island.  His class is an eclectic mix of six students.  He is drawn to one student in particular, Joan Dellamond (played by Elizabeth Reaser).  She is a bit of an outcast, yet has a promising writing style with a unique voice.  The students in the class gradually open up in their writing, while the instructor remains separate and aloof.  The class comes to an end, yet their stories do not.

Photo courtesy of Lincoln Center Theatre

There are strong performances by the entire cast.  Josh Radnor is charming and allusive as Aaron Port.  Elizabeth Reaser has a quirkiness that is disturbing and off beat.  As the details of her character are revealed, the depth of these qualities hold true.  She grows and changes due to the connection to Josh Radnor’s’character.  Their honesty and relationship is riveting.  Randy Graff is commanding as Frieda Cohen.  Maddie Corman and Julie Halston join with her in creating a trio of Long Island housewives that are both funny and sad.  Perhaps the most amusing touch by Mr. Greenberg is when he builds Maddie Corman's character into the main character in his play Our Mother's Brief Affair.  Frank Wood and Michael Overholtzer are brilliantly underplayed and ever present.  These actors all create rich, realistic characters with the specific backstories in Mr. Greenberg’s script.  Their relationships keep the energy flowing throughout the play.

Photo courtesy of Lincoln Center Theatre

The set by Richard Hoover and costumes by Sarah J. Holden strongly establish the time period and location of the play.  Lighting by David Weiner and sound by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen allow for a consistent tone and smooth transitions.  All of this supports Mr. Greenberg’s theme that the ending of a story is really the beginning.

The Babylon Line is playing at Lincoln Center Theatre at the Mitzi E. Newhouse through January 22.  Time is running out.  Get there before it closes.

Domenick Danza

Permission

Permission

MCC Theatre

Lucille Lortel Theatre

June 6, 2015

Photo courtesy of MCC Theatre

Permission, MCC Theatre’s production of Robert Askins new play, did not deliver the bang I had expected.  Perhaps it was that Mr. Askins’ Hand to God was so ingenious that my hopes were too high.  Perhaps the performances lacked the timing and chemistry to deliver the laughs and punch the script deserved.  Perhaps the director did not have the insight to the deeper levels or rhythms of the script. Yes, to all of the above.

When Eric (Justin Bartha) and his wife Cynthia (Elizabeth Reaser) accidentally walk in on their friend Zach (Lucas Near-Verbrugghe) spanking his wife Michelle (Nicole Lowrence), they don’t know what to think.  They quickly exit the dinner party and plan not to speak of the incident.  Zach meets up with Eric the next day and explains that he spanks his wife for Jesus.  It is part of CDD (Christian Domestic Discipline) which, through the power of God, allows couples to become the best they can be.  Eric and Cynthia try it and, thanks to the grace of God, their lives become empowered and productive… until it all comes back to bite them in the ass (pun intended).

Photo courtesy of MCC Theatre

The first act is relatively short as the premise of the play is established.  Mr. Askins delivers an Act II with a few twists and reveals that make the play worthwhile.  Director Alex Timbers finds the timing in the final scene that builds the action to the point where the main couple, Eric and Cynthia, is able to take a realistic look at their relationship.  Unfortunately, that sharp timing was missing from the earlier parts of the show.

The set, designed by David Korins, transformed the small space at the Lucille Lortel Theatre into six different realistic locations.  Each set was quickly changed, revealed, and smoothly rolled downstage as David Weiner’s lighting and M. L. Dogg’s sound design kept the transitions delightful.  Well done gentlemen!

Photo courtesy of MCC Theatre

Robert Askins is a playwright who pushes the envelope.  It is possible that this is too strong a conclusion to draw since I have only seen two of his plays, but they both did that so well.  The dramatic question in Permission is about discipline, how far is too far, and who really holds the power.  Even though the driving forces behind the behavior in this play were not as deep and dark as in Hand to God, he is still the playwright to watch. 

Domenick Danza