The Amateurs

The Amateurs

Vineyard Theatre

February 17, 2018

Photo courtesy of Vineyard Theatre

In his new play, The Amateurs, Jordan Harrison examines a number of compelling themes and concepts about the human experience throughout the ages.  There are many layers and points of entry in this new work.  The superb Vineyard Theatre production allows the audience to engage and journey through them all, and emerge with a broader view, a release, a purifications… or as they say in the play, a catharsis.

The play opens in the 1300s in the middle of a morality play.  A group of traveling players are portraying the seven deadly sins, when one falls ill with the black plaque.  He quickly dies and is left behind to be buried in a communal grave.  His sister, Hollis (played by Quincy Tyler Bernstine), is more affected by this than the rest of the traveling troupe.  Larking (played by Thomas Jay Ryan) continues to push his cast in getting ready to present their new play about Noah’s flood for the Duke.  When the players are visited by the ghost of their deceased colleague, the action of the play ceases and the playwright (played by Michael Cyril Creighton) enters to offer context to the dilemma and review a number of options for how to continue.  The ideas and questions he brings up are fully realized when the journey of the traveling players resumes.

Photo courtesy of Vineyard Theatre

Michael Cyril Creighton fills the twenty or so minute section as the playwright with depth, poignancy, impeccable timing, and serious humor.  He shares the character’s personal experiences of being bullied in middle school, learning to be afraid of AIDS in high school, and addresses the fact that Noah’s wife refuses to board the arc in the morality play.  He is joined in this middle section of the play by Quincy Tyler Bernstine, who steps out of her role as Hollis and shares with the audience an enlightened experience she once had while playing Mrs. Cratchit in a regional theatre production of A Christmas Carol.  She equally matches Mr. Creighton’s poignancy and humor.  This section frames the entire experience of the play and focuses the audience to view and understand the themes and messages.  These two actors masterfully bring to the fruition what this magnificent writing deserves.

The full cast of "The Amateurs"
Photo courtesy of Vineyard Theatre

The entire cast is amazing.  Kyle Beltran (as Brom), Greg Keller (as the Physic), Jennifer Kim (as Rona), and Thomas Jay Ryan (as Larking) bring richness and dry humor to this unprecedented play.  Director Oliver Butler finds the perfect pace that allows the impact of the themes to pop.  Scenic design by David Zinn and lighting design by Jen Schriever create a weighty atmosphere of encumbrance, mystery, and wonder.

Playwright Jordan Harrison examines the development of the individual identity as the root of the survival of humankind.  He clearly puts it out there that there are no safe places to hide from catastrophic events, such as the black plague, the great flood, the AIDS crisis, or anything else we might presently be facing.  He then sums it up in the succinct statement that “life is long.”  The Amateurs runs at the Vineyard Theatre through March 18.  It is definitely a MUST SEE! 

Domenick Danza

Our Mother’s Brief Affair

Our Mother’s Brief Affair

Manhattan Theatre Club

At the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

January 10, 2016

Photo courtesy of Manhattan Theatre Club

Our Mother’s Brief Affair is Richard Greenberg’s new play presently in previews at the Manhattan Theatre Club.  It stars Linda Lavin who delivers a strong performance as a woman in the final chapter of her life who shares her secrets with her adult children.  The script gradually builds momentum in Act I, then throws a curve right before intermission that begs for more detail.  Mr. Greenberg successfully follows through in Act II, however, the final scene, could use some edits and tightening in order to deliver the impact the script deserves.

Seth (played by Greg Keller) is speechless when his mother Anna (played by Linda Lavin) reveals, during a hospital stay, that she had a brief affair when he was a teen.  He immediately calls his twin sister, Abby (played by Kate Arrington), who flies to New York from California to assist him.  Even though the hospital stay proves to be another one of their mother’s overly dramatic incidents, the secrets she shares with them open up a side of her that neither of them knew before.  Seth questions how much is truth and how much is delusion, but Abby gives her the benefit of the doubt.  Either way, Anna has her moment and the healing has begun.

Gregg Keller & Linda Lavin
Photo courtesy of Manhattan Theatre Company

Mr. Greenberg crafts a script full of poetic detail that engages the emotions.  The opening scene is a respectful and humorous remembrance of a mother by her son.  Seth’s job as a writer of obituaries and someone who “frames” the lives of the dead serves as a metaphor for the themes of the play.  Mr. Greenberg shows this hand early on in the script, and skillfully builds on it throughout the play.  Some of the humor in the beginning of Act II is dark.  Perhaps if the pace of this section is heightened and the timing tightened, the laughs would come more readily.  Mr. Greenberg writes a tremendously poignant and personal monologue for Anna part way through Act II, which Ms. Lavin portrays flawlessly.  This is the strength and beauty of the play.  It is followed, unfortunately, by a clumsy final scene where everything is wrapped up too succinctly.  With some tweaking and editing of this scene before opening night, this play can deliver an impact on all three characters that will resonate with all audience members.

Each of the actors creates a realistic character that is multidimensional and likeable, which makes this production worth seeing.  Our Mother’s Brief Affair opens at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on January 20 and runs through March 6.  If you see it after the opening date, please post your comments here and let me know what you think about the final scene.

Domenick Danza