Superfluities Redux
On culture and theatre, by George Hunka
A new journal for theatre minima and organum posts exclusively can now be found here.
Thursday, 03 April 2008
Almost an Evening by Ethan Coen. Directed by Neil Pepe. Set design: Riccardo Hernandez. Sound design: Eric Shim. Light design: Donald Holder. Costume design: Ilona Somogyi. With F. Murray Abraham, Johanna Day, Tim Hopper, J.R. Horne, Jordan Lage, Mark Linn-Baker, Mary McCann, Del Pentecost and Joey Slotnick. Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission. At the Theatres at 45 Bleecker Street. Reviewed at the 29 March evening performance. Runs 20 March-1 June 2008. Information at the production's Web site; tickets via Telecharge.
Three entertaining sketches comprise Ethan Coen's off-Broadway debut
Joey Slotnick displays his last shred of
unabandoned
hope to a skeptical Mark Linn-Baker in
Almost an Evening
(Photo: Doug Hamilton)
Some of Ethan Coen's film work has consisted of thoughtful, darker contemplations of American life (Fargo, Miller's Crossing), but most of the rest has been playful juggling within the constraints of genre: the film noir in Blood Simple, the screwball comedy in Raising Arizona, and the Frank Capra salute to American optimism in The Hudsucker Proxy. It's this latter Coen that's on display in the three slick and highly entertaining sketches that comprise Almost an Evening, his first foray onto the stage. Here, the genre is sketch comedy, not of the Saturday Night Live style but more akin to the extended comedies of Your Show of Shows and The Carol Burnett Show. And it's nice to have it back at the Theatres at 45 Bleecker Street through June: a springtime/early summer treat.
Not all of the sketches hit home; of the three, the middle sketch about a self-doubting secret agent is perhaps the weakest, starting almost nowhere and getting nowhere fast. But the first and last remind you of the glory days of Tim Conway and Sid Caesar -- in this production, Joey Slotnick and F. Murray Abraham in particular respectively cringe and storm their way through silly situations that approach sublime insanity. If they don't ultimately reach that glorious height, they approach near enough to sparkle.
In the first sketch of the evening, "Waiting," Joey Slotnick is a mild-mannered doofus who finds himself in a waiting room with no door -- No Exit literally, not for a very long time. His cheerful hangdog face (yes, Slotnick proves, it's possible to have one of these) becomes more and more crestfallen as he is shunted from office to office to correct his personal record; the twist ending can be seen coming from a mile off, but thanks to Slotnick and a prissy, bureaucratic, skeptical Mark Linn-Baker, the audience's waiting for the payoff is well-compensated by beautifully timed performances. (And I loved the dial telephone ... ah, the memories it brings back ...)
It's F. Murray Abraham, though, who steals the show in the final sketch of the evening, "Debate." Mark Linn-Baker as the modest bow-tied God Who Loves sits back as Abraham, the God Who Judges, launches into an extended, angry, uproarious George Carlin-esque rant condemning contemporary humanity. Abraham's long flowing gray wig whips left and right as he delivers judgment upon the theatre audience here in an obscenity-laced tirade against, among other things, body piercing. Abraham is a delight; at the performance I saw, a particularly well-timed ad lib of "bless you" to a sneezing member of the audience nearly brought the house down. "Debate," however, overstays its welcome by nearly half as the play fizzles out into some backstage and restaurant-bound shenanigans involving a couple of audience members, Abraham, his erstwhile girlfriend and a hassled cafe staff.
To be fair, all the sketches are a little too long, but Neil Pepe's precise and slick direction eases the plays past the longeurs with considerable grace. The title Almost an Evening invites too many easy puns, and I'll control myself here. For a Friday or Saturday night's post-dinner entertainment, though, it's a fun lark through a style of comedy that we don't see enough of these days, on television or the stage, and of the generally excellent ensemble cast, Abraham, Slotnick and Linn-Baker shine. Almost an Evening runs through 1 June. It's a cheerful way to spend an evening of any variety.
Posted at 8.41 am in /Notices
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