The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window

 The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Harvey Theater
February 12, 2023 

Photo courtesy of 
The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window at BAM

Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan are wonderful together in The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, now playing at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theater.  This lesser known Lorraine Hansberry play is full of fire and conflict.  Director Anne Kauffman keeps the action moving at a brisk pace, which is important with the three hour running time.  The characters are diverse and equally developed, offering divergent points of view on social and political issues.  The story takes place in 1964 Greenwich Village.  

Sidney (played by Oscar Isaac) just closed down his night club and bought a newspaper.  His wife, Iris (played by Rachel Brosnahan), has not been told of his recent project.  She is a waitress/actress/dancer trying to find her way as a theatre artist, while balancing her husband’s many business ventures.  Sidney’s friend, Wally O’Hara (played by Andy Grotelueschen) is running for office and wants Sidney’s newspaper to endorse him.  Sidney wants his paper to stay focused on the arts, and not become a political tool.  Once Wally hangs his political sign in Sidney’s window, there is no going back. 

Photo courtesy of
The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window
 at BAM

In the meantime, Sidney’s friend, Alton (played by Julian DeNiro), has asked Iris’s sister, Gloria (played by Gus Birney) to marry him.  She is holding off on accepting his proposal while she is in Florida.  Alton does not know that Gloria is a call girl.  Iris’ other sister, Mavis (played by Miriam Silverman) is constantly trying to get Iris to dress and act more conservatively, while not holding back on her antisemitic and racist comments.  Sidney and Iris’ upstairs neighbor, David (played by Glenn Fitzgerald) is a gay, struggling playwright.  Among all this controversy and strong opinion, Iris admits to Sidney that their marriage is weakening. 

In Act II, the characters reveal and face their truths, which leads them all down a dark path.  Sidney finds out that the political endorsement he committed his newspaper to was all based on lies.  When personal tragedy strikes Iris and her sisters, it’s time for Sidney to let go of the distraction and be there for Iris.

Ms. Hansberry created a vibrant community of truthful characters in this play.  They are each dedicated to their beliefs, and passionately voice their opinions.  This creates innate conflict and keeps the dramatic action alive throughout the piece.  There is a intensity between Sidney and Iris that Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan play brilliantly.  Their quarrels build into moments of fervent affection.  The love between these two characters is deeply rooted.  Mr. Isaac and Ms. Brosnahan create a genuine connection that fully engages the audience all the way through to the conclusion of the story.

Playwright Lorraine Hansberry
Photo courtesy of Lorraine Hansberry Estate

Ms. Hansberry does not take a political stance in this piece.  Instead she presents the events and their effect on the characters, both socially and personally.  This gives the audience the opportunity to share the experience and draw their own conclusion.  The parallels from these events in 1964 to the social/pollical/personal challenges we face in our present time are astounding.  The play rings with relevance and clarity.

There are strong performance from every member of this cast.  The Act II monologues by Julian DeNiro (Alton) and Miriam Silverman (Mavis) are outstanding.  

The Sign in Sidney Burstein’s Window is playing at BAM’s Harvey Theater through March 24.  It is a powerful piece of theatre, masterfully directed and skillfully performed.

Domenick Danza

Hamlet

Hamlet

The Public Theater

August 11, 2017

 

Photo courtesy of The Public Theater

Sam Gold has directed a bare bones production of Hamlet at The Public Theater that is accessible, riveting, and engaging.  He incorporates humor and song to render this tale of power, revenge, and madness into a story of human emotion and frailty.  The cast of nine are all in modern dress and double on a few roles.  The action builds from one act to the next, erupting to its fatal climax and tragic conclusion.

It is reported to the grieving Prince Hamlet (played by Oscar Isaac) that the ghost of his father, the King, has been seen roaming in the dark of night.  Hamlet seeks out the specter, who reveals that he was murdered by his brother, Claudius (played by Ritchie Coster), who now wears the crown.  This builds on Hamlet’s despair, since Claudius has already married Hamlet's mother, Gertrude (played by Charlayne Woodard).  Hamlet is obligated to take revenge.  His plot is a slow one, delayed by his need for proof of Claudius’ deed and his mother’s participation, and his desire to separate from his love, Ophelia (played by Gayle Rankin).

Charlayne Woodard & Oscar Issac
Photo courtesy of The Public Theater

Oscar Isaac’s Hamlet carefully figures out his plan while purposefully keeping the other characters at arms distance with a convincing act of madness.  His soliloquies transport the audience into Hamlet’s deeper layers of thought and emotion.  His Hamlet grows over the course of the play, coming to terms with his grief and desolation, and becoming keenly focused on his choices for action.  Charlayne Woodard’s Gertrude slowly draws the conclusion that Claudius murdered her husband.  Her physicality transforms as the realization becomes clear.  You see it in her eyes, especially in the way she looks at Claudius.  These small moments play powerfully and flip the action at unexpected moments. 

Mr. Gold juxtaposes the intensity of Laertes’ need for retribution and the heightened emotion of Ophelia’s mad scene with the slow build of Hamlet’s well thought out plan of revenge and act of madness.  Both depictions ring true, and serve two purposes.  It frames Claudius’ suspicion of Hamlet throughout the course of the play and also offers a visceral insight into Hamlet’s character and thought process.  Mr. Gold also does a stunning job of double casting.  Ritchie Coster plays both Claudius and the Ghost of King Hamlet.  His Claudius is presuming and cunning.  His King Hamlet is haunting and consumed.  There are a few scenes where he switches roles on the spot, which impressively make a strong statement.  Peter Friedman is cast as both Polonius and a Grave Digger.  He is witty and authoritative as Polonius, then, shortly after his murder, successfully hits the comic timing of one of the Grave Diggers. 

Oscar Isaac & Gayle Rankin
Photo courtesy of The Public Theater

Anatol Yusef is bold as Laertes.  His character maintains his composure and strength, then becomes overwrought with emotion at the murder of his father and suicide of his sister.  Gayle Rankin plays Ophelia’s mad scene to the max, conjuring a deep level of compassion and empathy.  Keegan-Michael Key is warm and charming as Horatio.  He is the window with which the audience enters the story, and the final voice of reason at the end.

Hamlet is playing at The Public Theater through September 3.  It runs four hours with two intermissions.  The journey is rich, truthful, and well worth every second.       

Domenick Danza