Weekly Margin 2024, W17: Macbeth (an undoing)

4/25/24: Macbeth (an undoing)

What: TFANA and Rose Theatre, London present Zinnie Harris's new adaptation of the Shakespeare tragedy which reexamines Lady Macbeth's arc as well as the influence of the weird sisters. 

And? The production makes a strategic error by backloading all its most interesting choices to the second act (a friend of mine left at intermission). The first act is still mostly Macbeth, with a few additions that add flavor but not a lot of substance. And there's entirely too much air in it for the stakes to feel real. As act two develops, we start to see more of the Lady M lens with some inversion of the madness between her and her husband, but there remains a substantial muddiness in the rules of the play, so that some sudden fourth-wall breaks and story awareness feel unearned and ungrounded. I don't regret seeing it, but it's not a must-see.

Nicole Cooper as Lady Macbeth. Photo by Ellie Kurttz.

Weekly Margin 2024, W16: Titanique, Water for Elephants, Here There Are Blueberries

 4/16/24: Titanique

What: A jukebox musical parody of the Titanic film.

And? Very campy fun.

Michael Williams, Nicole Parker, and Lindsay Heather Pearce as Jack,
Celine Dion, and Rose. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.

4/17/24: Water for Elephants

What: The Broadway musical adaptation of Sara Gruen's Depression-era novel about a young man who hops on a circus train to escape family tragedy and, you know, there's an elephant. I don't know, this show's least interesting aspect is its story.

And? I kept trying to figure out, while watching the show, why it wasn't quite working for me. It has a lot of elements I like: inherently theatrical storytelling, a deep bench of talent with the supporting players and ensemble, some striking music and harmonies, and a design team working well in concert with each other. And a lot of the time, this all works. The aerial ballet for the dying horse is heartbreaking and beautiful and a perfect demonstration of what this show is at its best. Sara Gettelfinger's triumphant Broadway return as the aging dancer Barbara is everything perfect, as is Paul Alexander Nolan's seedy turn as the ringmaster (the way he makes every note look effortless should be criminal, as should be his ability to steal nearly every show he's in). It's also a treat to see and hear Wade McCollum (Ernest Shackleton himself!) onstage again. And then the ensemble, which includes a number of alum from the Canadian acrobatic collective The 7 Fingers (Les 7 Doigts de la Main), is a stunningly united company repeatedly drawing gasps and applause from the audience (the co-choreographer and circus designer is Shana Carroll, co-founding artistic director of The 7 Fingers).

Okay, that all sounds great, so what's my problem? The story is kind of eh. The main character, though competently performed by Grant Gustin and Gregg Edelman, is perhaps the least interesting thing onstage. The solo songs aren't nearly as enjoyable as the group numbers. The puppets, though fine, made me long for the craft of Handspring Puppet Company (the group behind the puppetry in War Horse and Life &Times of Michael K, where the puppets were fully infused with breath and life, and I cared). And with all the acrobatics and circus activity, director Jessica Stone hasn't done enough to focus my eye: I didn't always know where to look.

tl;dr: the show is less than the sum of its parts, but some of its parts are extraordinary

The cast of Water for Elephants. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Weekly Margin 2024, W15: Teeth

4/13/24: Teeth

What: Playwrights Horizons presents Anna K. Jacobs and Michael R. Jackson's new musical adaptation of Mitchell Lichtenstein's film, about a subject I'm worried will get my blog flagged (wheeeeeee).

And? This has great potential. The cast is fantastic, led by Alyse Alan Louis, who also costarred in Jackson's White Girl in Danger at Second Stage. The songs are catchy, though I think they need a few steps further to elevate them to their full potential (a few songs have a chorus that's show-stopping hilarity when it first hits, but doesn't push the joke further so the laughter dies out as the song goes on). However, I don't think the show currently has the right director. I've seen Sarah Benson's exceptional directing work at at TFANA with both Fairview and An Octoroon, but right now the performance isn't matching the degree of camp that the script wants to deliver. I also don't think it's currently staged that effectively. I look forward to seeing this show continue to develop, and become what it is surely destined to be. (and if the subject matter--revenge predicated on sexual assault--isn't for me, that doesn't invalidate that it's a worthy show that should be seen)

Jenna Rose Husli, Wren Rivera, Alyse Alan Louis, Phoenix Best, and Helen
J. Shen as Trisha, Stephanie, Dawn, Fiona, and Keke. Photo by Chelcie Parry.

Weekly Margin 2024, W14: Patriots

4/06/24: Patriots

What: The Broadway transfer of Peter Morgan's play about Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky, who first helped Putin's ascent to power and then became one of his most vocal critics.

And? The play is bookended by Berezovsky telling us how the West doesn't understand Russia, doesn't understand its soul. This is probably true. However, I don't know that the play itself (written, after all, by a Westerner, the bulk of whose works have centered on British politics and monarchy) does much to elucidate. The whole play still feels very much like a Western lens. It also doesn't manage to shed much light on the enigma of Putin himself, who seems a timid nobody until he takes control of Russian government and never lets go. He remains a cypher. 

But. What if we say this is deliberate. What if we admit the Western lens of this play and say that's a choice, that Morgan isn't trying to write from within the Russian mentality. Why, then, this play? Why now? I found myself for most of the performance trying to discern what story the play was telling. But if we ask that question with the acknowledgement of the deliberately Western lens, maybe this play is a warning to us, to not be complacent. Putin took power during Russia's brief era of freedom from its totalitarian communist rule. Democracy on its own doesn't protect itself as remaining a democracy, not when people act in bad faith to tip the balance. Britain and the US are not free from the risk of fascism, and we know damn well that there are people who would like the next election to be the last election. They're saying it openly at this point.

So while I can't necessarily say this is a great piece of theater that will stick with me, competently done though it is, I can see why they want to tell this story now. Michael Stuhlbarg is wonderful and eccentric and elastic as Berezovsky (and continues to make me regret having missed his performance in "The Pillowman") and will probably get a Tony nomination.

A scene from the Almeida Theatre production. Photo by Marc Brenner.