Humpty Dumpty

 Humpty Dumpty
Chain Theatre
April 12, 2025 

Photo courtesy of Chain Theatre

In Humpty Dumpty, playwright Eric Bogosian strips four characters of everything they believe themselves to be, forcing them to face some stark truths.  The Chain Theatre production spares no expense bringing this play to fruition.  Scenic designer David Henderson creates an isolated environment, complete with every rustic comfort that would send any urbanite off the deep end.  Director Ella Jane New guides each cast member to find the breaking point for their character as they unravel and face their flaws and weaknesses.  

It is the year 2000.  Four high-powered city dwellers decide to take a week off from everything and spend it in a rural town, hours away from their daily stress.  No work.  No phones.  No computers.  Max (played by Kirk Gostkowski) is eager to start his week vacation in this rustic, cozy environment.  His wife, Nicole (played by Chritina Elise Perry), continues to connect to her office, answering calls and demanding they meet every deadline.  Their friend, Troy (played by Gabriel Rysdahl), arrives with his girlfriend, Spoon (played by Marie Dinolan), and bags full of expensive gourmet foods and wine.  When the power goes out, the handyman, Nat (played by Brandon Hughes), brings a lantern and supplies to get them through the next day or two.  Nicole is freaked out by the loss of power, while Spoon finds it relaxing and grounding.  As days go by with no electricity, yet sporadic and skeptical information from the outside world, each of them faces their breaking point.  Nat leaves in a frustrated huff, then Spoon disappears.  In a moment of weakness, Nicole asks Nat to stay at the house with her and Max, pushing them to face the truth about their relationship.  When the lights come back on, nothing is the same. 

Marie Dinolan, Gabriel Rysdahl, Kirk Gostkowski,
& Christina Elise Perry
Photo courtesy of Chain Theatre

Kirk Gostkowski, Christina Elise Perry, Gabriel Rysdahl, and Marie Dinolan do a brilliant job establishing their high-powered characters in the opening scenes.  They are all successful in their own right and have no problem exhibiting their pride.  Troy is the most pompous and the first to crack.  Gabriel Rhysdahl genuinely plays this moment with a heightened vulnerability and aggressiveness.  Marie Dinolan experiences Spoon’s downfall from the inside.  She skillfully displays this implosion with subtle panic.  Brandon Hughes portrays Nat with an underlying sense of danger and mystery.  The power shifts when he is left alone in the house with Max and Nicole.  In these scenes Kirk Gostkowki and Christina Elise Perry strip the characters of Max and Nicole bare.  Their emotions are raw.  Their anxiety is high.  Their terror is intense.  The action goes way over the top, and Mr. Gostkowski and Ms. Perry play these moments with daring honesty, bringing the action to a sudden and stunning conclusion.

This is the New York premiere of Mr. Bogosian’s play, which was written twenty-five years ago.  It remains fresh and relevant, especially in a time where technology rules our lives and uncertainty is waiting outside the door.  

Humpty Dumpty is playing at Chain Theatre through May 3.  

Domenick Danza

On a personal note: A special shout out the Stage Manager, Grace Loeb, and her crew for a great job on this very heavy prop show, which includes food.

 

This G*d Damn House

 This G*d Damn House
Chain Theatre
March 24, 2023 

Photo courtesy of Chain Theatre

Chain Theatre is producing the world premiere of Matthew McLachlan’s This G*d Damn House.  The play is a complex story of a family coming to terms with their truths.  The stakes are high and the clock is ticking as the characters do all they can to hold it together.  Director Ella Jane New works with an excellent cast to uncover the secrets that have kept this family together for years, and ultimately end up destroying them. 

Angie (played by Sachi Parker) has been evicted from her Florida home.  She has less than twenty-four hours to get out.  She called her son Jacob (played by Kirk Gostkowski) to do the heavy lifting.  He called his brother, Danny (played by Gabriel Rysdahl), a playwright living in New York City, to fly down to help him.  The brothers do what they can to avoid the memories they unearth as they work through the night sorting the trash and belongings Angie horded over the years.  When Angie’s teaching assistant, Hannah (played by Rica de Ocampo), arrives to lend a hand, it is revealed that Angie lost her job six months ago.  This begins a slow unraveling of the lies Angie has told about her eviction.  It is not until Jacob’s wife, Ally (played by Christina Perry), who is eight months pregnant, shows up at 3:30 AM that the full truth is uncovered and the unavoidable transpires. 

Sachi Parker, Kirk Gostkowski, & Gabriel Rysdahl
Photo courtesy of Chain Theatre

Sachi Parker beautifully portrays the complexities of Angie’s character.  In Act I she is witty and
charming.  Her slow, aging physicality is juxtaposed by her fast-paced, energetic, non-stop talking.  Her sly smile and enigmatic gaze seduce her sons into helping her in her time of need.  In Act II, after her pregnant daughter-in-law confronts her, she shows her true colors.  She is cold, cunning, and manipulative.  This scene between Ms. Parker and Christina Perry is riveting.  It is the key turning point of the play, and these two women skillfully deliver the potent punch that shifts the action for all the characters.    

The set design, by David Henderson, and set dressing, by David Kaplan, create an atmosphere that truly reflects Angie’s character.  At the top of the show, the set is filled with boxes and shopping bags.  Piles of dirty clothes are strewn everywhere.  The old, worn furniture is completely hidden.  As the characters pack up and empty the house, dirt and stains are revealed on the walls and carpet.  The truth of the house is uncovered.  It is filthy and repellent.  The house is Angie.  When Jacob loses all patience with his mother, he shows her the dirt on his hands and says, “This is you.”  Angie is the g*d damn house.

This G*d Damn House is playing at Chain Theatre (312 W 36th St. 4th floor, New York, NY 10018) through April 8. 

Domenick Danza

macbitches

 macbitches
Chain Theatre
August 25, 2022 

Photo courtesy of Chain Theatre

Sophie McIntosh’s macbitches is a stark look at the inner world of an undergrad acting program.  Ms. McIntosh uses this microcosm of a societal structure to reveal how people fall into and accept the norms forced upon them in order to fit in.  The balance of power is clearly understood.  When the unraveling begins, the characters lose all sense of themselves.  This Chain Theatre world premiere production is skillfully directed by Ella Jane New.  She breaks the action down into short, clear beats, then allows them to effortlessly build to a dramatic frenzy.

Morgan Lui, Caroline Orlando, Laura Clare Browne, & Marie Dinolan
Photo courtesy of Chain Theatre

When Hailey, a freshman (played by Marie Dinolan), is cast as Lady Macbeth in the Drama Department’s fall production of “The Scottish Play,” the upper class students are taken by surprise.  Piper, a sophomore (played by Laura Clare Browne), invites her to a small gathering to celebrate.  Rachel (played by Carline Orlando), who is a senior, is handling her disappointment remarkable well.  Lexi, a junior (played by Natasja Naarendorp), is livid over the casting decision.  Cam (played by Morgan Lui) is also a junior, and slowly falling into a depression over the situation.  As they drink and share their drama school stories with Hailey, each one reveals the darker side of their experiences.  After Hailey tells about her final call back with the director, Rachel and Lexi decide to pull a prank on her.  The prank backfires when Rachel reveals a secret she has been keeping from Lexi for the three years of their friendship.  Blood is spilt and “what is done cannot be undone.”

Caroline Orlando, Morgan Lui, Natasja Naarendorp, 
Laura Clare Browne, & Marie Dinolan
Photo courtesy of Chain Theatre

These women are perfectly cast and delicately build their distinctive characters moment by moment.  Laura Claire Brown plays Piper’s optimism with genuine vulnerability.  She reveals her character’s insecurities in an intimate moment with Morgan Lui’s Cam.  These two actors have a strong connection.  They portray opposite characteristics, yet their bond is genuine and captivating.  Marie Dinolan delightfully portrays Hailey as a naïve freshman wanting to fit in.  Her comic timing is excellent.  She has a few bold moments that shift the action of the play.  This keeps the audience on the edge of their seat, waiting for the other shoe to drop.  From the opening moment of the show, Natasja Naarendorp is on fire.  This is juxtaposed by Caroline Orlando’s cool and calm portrayal of Rachel.  At the climax of the story, Rachel loses all control and Lexi cracks under the stress.  It is a powerful scene that takes the audience by surprise.  These two skilled actors successfully deliver an impactful ending that takes the entire story to another level.

Morgan Lui & Laura Clare Browne
Photo courtesy of Chain Theatre

Sophie McIntosh creates characters who have learned how to smoothly relate on the outside, while carrying hurt and secrets on the inside.  Her writing is funny and dark.  Chain Theatre delivers the high quality we have come to expect from their productions.  macbitches is playing through September 10.  Get a ticket right away.  Performances are selling out.

Domenick Danza