Lunar Eclipse

 Lunar Eclipse
2^nd Stage Theater
The Pershing Square Signature Center
May 31, 2025

Photo courtesy of 2nd Stage Theater

Donald Margulies’ new play, Lunar Eclipse, is now running Off-Broadway.  It is an intimate two-hander, filled with deep sentiment that lingers long after the play is over.  Mr. Margulies structured the piece to parallel the stages of a lunar eclipse.  Director Kate Whoriskey shapes the emotions in the dialogue to gently draw the audience in.  Reed Birney and Lisa Emery are wonderful together.  Their connection is honest, innate, and effortless. 

George (played by Reed Birney) is sitting in the middle of a field in the dead of night, crying.  When a car pulls up and headlights illuminate his emotional state, he quickly pulls himself together.  It is his wife, Em (played by Lisa Emery), who has come to keep him company.  It is George’s ritual to watch the lunar eclipse, and she brought supplies to get them through the cold night.  Em tells George she saw him crying when she drove up.  He denies it at first, then finally opens up.  George admits that he misses their newly deceased pet dog.  They reminisce about all the dogs they have had on the farm over the years, all of whom have been buried in the field where they are sitting.  He also tells Em that he is awake in the middle of the night worried about the state of the world, and is having trouble remembering everyday details.  She makes light of his getting older.  They talk about their inability to have children and the challenges they faced adopting.  George tells Em that he knows how and when they are both going to die. 

Photo courtesy of 2nd Stage Theater

As in all Donald Margulies plays, the rhythm of the dialogue flows naturally, which offers visceral insight into the relationship of the characters.  They poke and tease, lose their patience, shut down, then selfishly blurt out their feelings.  What is different in this piece is the location.  A farm in western Kentucky requires a different pace and ease than Ms. Margulies’ earlier plays, and it works beautifully.  The audience sits back and absorbs the revelations in the dialogue. 

In the final scene George and Em are transported back in time to the night they ventured out to the field to watch their first lunar eclipse together.  They are young and hopeful.  They have their whole lives ahead of them.  This scene perfectly frames the couple’s reflections during the previous scenes.  Their journey has just begun and, knowing where it takes them, we understand the importance of appreciating every moment. 

Lunar Eclipse is playing at The Pershing Square Signature Center through June 22.  It is a touching and intimate play.  Go see it. 

Domenick Danza

I Was Most Alive with You

I Was Most Alive with You

Playwrights Horizons

October 7, 2018

Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

Craig Lucas has written a masterpiece in I Was Most Alive with You, now running at Playwrights Horizons.  He parallels this narrative of loss, despair, and letting go with the Old Testament’s Book of Job.  Since one of the main characters is deaf, the production is “shadow cast” and told in American Sign Language.  A portion of the dialogue is projected when the characters communicate solely through signing.  The collaborative efforts of Sabrina Dennison, Director of Artistic Sign Language, and Director Tyne Rafaeli create a seamless and powerful piece of theatre.  The production is a monumental feat, fusing every aspect of design to engage and challenge the audience to join the characters on this brutal and gut-wrenching journey.

Ash (played by Michael Gaston and shadowed by Seth Gore) meets with his close friend and writing partner, Astrid (played by Marianna Bassham and shadowed by Christina Marie), to choose and develop a new writing project after months of hiatus.  Ash and his family have experienced a string of tragic events that have made it difficult for him to work, yet left him in great financial need.  In order to face the hardships head on, Astrid pushes Ash to write the story of the events of the past eighteen months. 

Michael Gaston, Lisa Emery, & Russell Harvard
Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

It starts with a car ride to the home of Ash’s mother, Carla (played by Lois Smith and shadowed by Kalen Feeney), for Thanksgiving dinner.  They pick up Ash’s wife, Pleasant (played by Lisa Emery and shadowed by Amelia Hensley), and start to discuss the Bible, particularly the Book of Job, where Job loses everything and is left in total despair.  We meet Ash’s son, Knox (played by Russell Harvard and shadowed by Harold Foxx), getting ready to leave for the same Thanksgiving celebration.  He is deaf and a recovering alcoholic who is convincing his new boyfriend, Farhad (played by Tad Cooley and shadowed by Anthony Natale), to not drink or misbehave when meeting the family for the first time.  Being Thanksgiving, the family’s skeletons emerge.  Tragedy falls on them in three heavy blows, same as in the Book of Job.  It is revealed that Carla is dying of cancer and the family’s finances are in ruin, then Knox is severely injured in a car accident on the way home.  Act II brings more dire hardships.  As a result of the car accident, Knox becomes addicted to opioids and, out of despair, Pleasant leaves her husband and son.  Ash works feverishly to hold on and not relapse to drinking as he helplessly watches his son spiral into a dark place.  Astrid pushes Ash to write an ending to their writing project, thus relinquishing control of the final outcome of his life’s events.

The full cast of I Was Most Alive with You
Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

By having the characters write their own story, Craig Lucas chose a highly theatrical mechanism that places the theme directly into the action.  It gives the characters a vehicle for self-examination as events unfold in front of the audience.  All the characters struggle with the need to control.  Ash and Astrid observe every scene, whether they are in the action or not.  The sense of control is always present, no matter how unpredictable and extreme the scenes turn out to be.  It is not until the climax of the play that we see Ash releasing his desperate need for control.  The sense of what he wants to occur is clear, yet his facing the need to accept what he cannot control is painful and cathartic.

Russell Harvard as Knox
Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

This play is emotionally absorbing and intellectually riveting.  The full cast (main characters and shadow cast) is riveting.  They are fully present with one another in every moment, creating intense and genuine interaction.  I Was Most Alive with You is running at Playwrights Horizons through October 14.  See it!  You will be challenged on every level.

Domenick Danza

For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday

For Peter Pan on her 70^th birthday

Playwrights Horizons

August 25, 2017

 

Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

Sarah Ruhl states that she wrote For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday as a gift for her mother on her 70^th birthday.  Presently in previews at Playwrights Horizons, this play is a gift of opportunity to all of us to ponder the occurrences in life that we cannot turn back from.  It is a chance to contemplate the circumstances that push us toward growing up, no matter our age.  Les Waters directs an amazing ensemble cast, creating a close-knit family of five adult brothers and sisters who face and accept the death of their father.  The script gives insight to each of their varied perspectives.  It is a tender and intimate story.

Ann (played by Kathleen Chalfant), John (played by Daniel Jenkins), Michael (played by Keith Redding), Jim (played by David Chandler), and Wendy (played by Lisa Emery) surround their father (played by Ron Crawford) on his death bed.  Time moves slowly until he finally lets go.  The brothers and sisters meet back at their childhood home to reminisce and toast their father and the memory of their other departed loved ones.  They realize they are now orphans.  The only one who admits she has not grown up is Ann, who played Peter Pan in her youth.  As they sleep in their childhood beds that night, the thought of flying off to Neverland overpowers them all.

Kathleen Chalfant, Daniel Jenkins, Keith Redding, & Lisa Emery
Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

In the program notes, Ms. Ruhl talks about how she structured this play after Japanese Noh drama.  In part one the protagonist meets the ghost.  In part two they recognize the ghost.  In part three they embrace and dance with the ghost.  Since the play is in three scenes, this structure is clearly defined.  Being aware of it gives a deeper insight into the emotional and universal journey of the play.  Each member of the cast builds distinctive characters who unite during this solemn occasion to face the challenges and the changes ahead. 

For Peter Pan on her 70^th birthday runs on Playwrights Horizons’ Mainstage Theatre through October 1.  It is Sarah Ruhl’s most personal play, and is touching on many levels.

Domenick Danza

Marjorie Prime

Marjorie Prime

Playwrights Horizons

December 19, 2015

Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

Is virtual reality a mere reflection of projected thoughts, or does it have a life separate and individual from those programming it?  This is a question that arises from experiencing Jordan Harrison’s Marjorie Prime at Playwrights Horizons.  The play is skillfully crafted and seamlessly directed to blur the lines between these realms.  The cast draws you deeply into their world and intimately connects you to their hopes and fears.

Tess (played by Lisa Emery) and Jon (played by Stephen Root) set up their aging mother, Marjorie (played by Lois Smith), with a prime of her deceased husband (played by Noah Bean).  The purpose for this is two-fold: first, to keep her company and second, to keep her memories alive.  A prime is a computer generated image in the likeness of a specific person.  This prime can interact as this individual when programmed with information about your relationship and details of your shared experiences.  Since perception frames most involvements, the truth of these interactions becomes questionable.  This is why Tess is skeptical of the effect these conversations have on her mother.  Jon is certain of the benefit they offer, since he sees improvement in Marjorie’s outlook.  He later understands Tess’s concerns when he has a need to develop a personal relationship with a prime.

Lisa Emery, Lois Smith, & Noah Bean
Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

This play is all about relationship, and director Anne Kauffman has brought these four actors to a place where their interactions are truthful and sincere.  Lois Smith is superb as Marjorie.  She portrays the numerous layers of this aging character with strength, conviction, and detail.  Lisa Emery elicits great emotion and compassion as a woman who yearns for connection with her mother in order to resolve her deepest struggles.  Stephen Root’s character is continually warm, caring, and empathetic.  The chemistry between him and Ms. Emery is natural and dynamic.  Noah Bean emits a grounded calm that makes you understand why every character in the play willingly opens up and graciously reveals themselves to him. 

Stephen Root, Lois Smith, & Lisa Emery
Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

Jordan Harrison's writing proves that a skilled playwright can lead you on a journey almost anywhere.  His dialogue is full of dramatic action that keeps you riveted.  The final scene of the play takes a stunning turn.  Can life’s most complex challenges be virtually resolved by merely combining streams of logic to given facts?  Marjorie Prime is extended at Playwrights Horizons until January 24.  See it and understand the depth and value of Marjorie’s simple statement, “How nice that we could love somebody.”

Domenick Danza