A Rant on Straight Plays

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 1:15am

*Changed the title of the thread. I don't want people to think I hated the Lyons. I really liked it. Go see it.*

I saw the Lyons tonight. Perhaps you gathered that from the title. And I loved it.

It's messy and gut-wrenching and hilarious. I just found it to be a stunner from beginning to end. Sure, I think it has it's many flaws and problems, but I think Silver should be applauded for providing some serious bomb-drops.

I think there needed to be a scene with the mother and daughter at home to balance out the weird interlude scene with the son and realtor. I understand the importance of the scene, but maybe it would have been better to just have it explained in Act 2. Hm.

Lavin was brilliant. I've never seen her live before, and just thought she was stellar. I know she's not expected to win, but I think she gave the best performance of a leading lady in a straight play this year. She was witty and quick and honest and brutal. It was just a great performance to watch, and I can't wait to go back and see her again.

The others were awesome as well. I didn't love the daughter, but she didn't irritate me too much. The son was great, but almost cried a little too much. Dick Latessa was hilarious, but his weird monologue-thing in Act 2 was not needed, or should have been used better.

I was just so happy to see a play that involves people standing around a room and "revealing family secrets" to be so hilarious - in a new, unusual way - and so unexpected. Some of the revelations weren't mind blowing, but the development of the son and the relation of the mother to them all is just so interesting. I almost thought this would have made a great pilot for a sitcom. I just don't understand why more people aren't into this, but are scooping up "Other Desert Cities," which to me is just such a boring mediocre piece of theater. It says nothing new and the big revelation is so horrendously delivered that you don't even care.

I thought "Chinglish" was the other great play of the season (I haven't seen C-Park yet). It managed to do the same things as "The Lyons." Make you laugh, cry, and think, which I think all great theater should have the ability to do. It, like "The Lyons," also tried to stay truly theatrical in its staging, and I really appreciated that.

I see a lot of theater throughout the year and I think theater has delved more and more into the leftover TV bin (Assistance, Other Desert Cities, God of Carnage, Time Stands Still) as of late, and it's disappointing. It's so exciting seeing "Death of a Salesman" or "Streetcar" and realizing how theatrical and raw and exciting something can be.

I know "The Lyons" is far from perfect, but it's exciting to not know how it's going to end, or what's going to be revealing next. While watching "ODC" I knew it was going to build and build to some big revelation and then it would be time for the curtain call. And that's exactly what happened. Boo.

Updated On: 4/29/12 at 01:15 AM

[AADA81]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 5:10am

Wow. This is one of the best blogs I've ever read on BWW. It's clear that you love and appreciate good theater, but also your comments here are so thoughtful and resonant. Whether or not a person agrees with your opinions, you fully explain your perceptions with intelligence and respect for the art / craft of great theater while leaving plenty of room for open, respectful discussion. Impressive.

In fact, I've read many of your blogs over the years and you consistently add thoughtful and intriguing points of view to every discussion. Thanks again for another great entry.



Updated On: 4/28/12 at 05:10 AM

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 11:57am

I couldn't agree more about OTHER DESERT CITIES. It is so refreshing to hear that someone else agreed with me. I was bored and left the theatre cold. I appreciated some of the performances, but the play felt like a first draft or an outline.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 12:03pm

I have to agree with you for the most part. I loved The Lyons. I even loved the realtor scene, which a lot of people had a problem with, because it went in such a surprising direction (for me). In another play, the scene would've gone into the "Oh, the son is emerging from the oppressive shadow of his mother and awkwardly finding romance". That's how the scene is set up. But instead, it's a punch to the gut.

I especially agree with you in re: Other Desert Cities. I was entertained, but never enthralled and especially never surprised. The revelation that the whole play builds toward is hackneyed, and the play's politics felt easy and unnecessary.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 12:42pm

Thanks everyone.

I just wanted to open a discussion on why we think American theater is playing it so safe? Where are the Albee's and Brecht's and Beckett's? Why is everything just people sitting around a room "arguing" about stupid, boring things? Why is there no one taking chances?

[Kad]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 12:46pm

Because people, on the whole, don't want to take a chance when they buy a ticket. They want to see people in living rooms not terribly unlike their own being dysfunctional, with catty one-liners and substance abuse and shocking revelations. They want TV drama on stage, and that's mostly what makes it to Broadway.

There are plenty of risk-takers out there. They're just rarely on Broadway.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 12:55pm

I only started seeing straight plays on Broadway about a year ago (though I've seen many regionally and read many), but I have to say, in that time, I've seen a handful of plays that I thought were fascinating and even sometimes risk-taking in their own way. Rippedman- did you happen to see JERUSALEM? Flawed though it was, it was certainly pretty bold. And although you might categorize it with the "tv drama"-esque plays, I found GOOD PEOPLE to be incredibly well-written and involving. And even VENUS IN FUR (which you should see if you haven't already) may not be substantial in terms of having lots of plot, but Ives has done some pretty clever stuff with that one. I think your point is interesting, and I have to wonder who the Albee or Beckett of our generation is (if there is one at all).

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 1:08pm

VENUS is next on my list!

I hate when people say "Because that's what people want to see." How do we know that when that's all we're given? I'm sure if you put Julie Roberts in an Ionesco play it would sell out in minutes. People come to the theater for all sorts of reasons. "Exit The King" did very well on Broadway a few seasons ago, and garnered a Tony for its leading man.

I'm not even talking about Broadway. I understand Broadway has always been a "safe" place, and I get that. There's a lot at stake and a lot of hands in the kitchen.

But what about the non-profits? Shouldn't 2nd Stage be taking risks instead of putting up horrible "indie drama"-wannabe type plays? Shouldn't Playwrights be doing something more than just people sitting around bitching? It's just annoying because it makes me unexcited to see new works. i want to get excited to see new shows, but it's always so much of a letdown.

Don't even get me started on musicals. Oof.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 1:18pm

I think a lot of the why is that tv and films have both opened up what their possibilities could be -- 1/2 of what is on tv today (and I'm not talking about reality crap) would have never been allowed on tv 20 years ago. With indie movies exploding with success, that is true on film as well. I think many are just going to a different media -- and where the money is.

I also think WE are different -- we hear more and are aware more of what is out there, and live less in a bubble. Additionally, those of us that are theater lovers SEE more than people of the past. Seeing MORE raises the chances of seeing more mediocre...when in times past, you saw the hit -- becaue you'd heard so much about it.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 1:33pm

That's a valid point, for sure. I mean, there is def. a way to do the "family sitcom" style and do it well (See: The Lyons, Tribes).

I just love when you go to see a play and it's just so theatrical and interestingly laid out that you can't see it becoming a movie without a lot of rewriting. One of my favorite plays of the past seasons is "WELL" for that very reason. It was just straight-up theater.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 2:15pm

There are theatres that consistently put up risky stuff, like the Public.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 2:31pm

I've only read ODC on the page, so my opinion probably isn't fair. Nonetheless, I entirely agree with the responses above. But then I've always thought John Robin Baitz' work reminded me of TV. He's a smart guy, but I leave the theater thinking I would have been happy watching his work on the small screen.

And I'm too far out in the boondocks to even begin to sum up American theater as a whole. But I suspect dramamama is exactly right: the focus of our culture has shifted to film and TV (especially now that the pay cable channels are giving artists so much freedom, relatively speaking). Any playwright who writes a promising play is almost immediately sucked into the vortex of money that is Hollywood.

RippedMan is probably right that the American theater would be healthier if it emphasized more formalist styles. Unfortunately and for various cultural reasons, Realism became the national style--at least for straight plays--and that's a style that film and TV do very well. The Lomans and the Kowalskis would each have their own series on HBO or STARZ if they were being created today.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 2:38pm

Probably true, and you're right, The Public - for the most part - puts up interesting shows.

I'm not saying realism is bad at all, but I like Albee's sense of realism where there's always something lurking and some weird twist that happens that takes you out of the "4 people in a room talking."

I'm just so sick of seeing like "the alcoholic" - "the abusive mother" - etc. It gets old.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 2:54pm

RippedMan, I expressed myself poorly (not the first time). I didn't mean to imply there is anything wrong with Realism per se.

My point was that American theater became known for exactly the style that film and TV do best. One can argue that filmed media do Realism BETTER, even, because the camera can give us close-ups not available in the theater. And with stunning but erratic performers like Marlon Brando, the camera can freeze the good takes, so 7/8 of the audience doesn't see the half-hearted performances.

If the U.S. had a healthier tradition of more formalist works (such as France and Germany do), then perhaps theater would better hold its own in the cultural mix. I think stage musicals continue to interest the public in part because, despite the success of film musicals, stage musicals have things to offer that other performance media can't duplicate.

Certainly Albee (and even Williams and Miller) have stretched the boundaries of Realism to great effect. But to me, someone like Baitz doesn't make me want to go see another play; he's more likely to inspire me to watch a good Movie-of-the-Week. And when I read OTHER DESERT CITIES I think, "For $140, I can wait for the film."

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 6:46pm

Exactly, I totally agree.

But I think "Our Town" is a masterpiece. It's realism in terms of acting, but it's so stylized and interesting and intricate. I don't feel like anyone is writing anything all that exciting. I saw "How I Learned To Drive" and just thought "Well, she pulled out all the Brechtian tricks and messed with the timeline." But heck, at least she was trying to do something different.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 7:20pm

To be fair, I think many of the classic long running plays of the past are basically well done sitcoms (look at a list of what runs well out of non-musicals--The Seven Year Itch is hardly brave). I'm not sure it's a new thing--even in the 50s when Off-Broadway was essentially young, the common thought was that if one wants to see a brave play they shouldn't go to Broadway.There are the famous execptions of course, but they merely prove the rule.

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 10:17pm

^

Oh, brother, here we go again.

Another snotty put-down of comedies of yore.

It seems endemic to some here.

I'd take The Seven Year Itch any day over the likes of Other Desert Cities, The Lyons, Clybourne Park, Venus in Fur, Seminar, or worst of all, the grotesque and asinine Sons of the Prophet. Not just because it's more enjoyable than all of them -- how could anything be less?-- but because it's a better play.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 10:56pm

You read weird things into my posts. I just meant it wasn't groundbreaking--I think Seven Year Itch is a near perfect comedy--when I said an above average sitcom I didn't mean that as a bad thing. Although I especially enjoy Williams' slight subversion of the genre with Period of Adjustment.

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 11:07pm

^

You need to use words more adeptly so they convey exactly what you wish to convey.

So that people don't read "weird things" into your posts.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 11:10pm

But you seem to be the only person who does ?

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 11:12pm

I don't know why you bother, Eric. There was nothing "snotty" in your mention of SEVEN YEAR ITCH, you simply said it wasn't "brave". In the context of this post, I assumed you meant not "brave" in the sense that Orton's comedies were brave--especially in their day.

RippedMan, I absolutely agree with you about OUR TOWN. I think it is vastly underrated and much too often dismissed as "sentimental" (when it is anything but). I taught it as a classic example of modernist experiment for years.

And, again, I wasn't knocking Realism. My argument is simply that film and TV do it very well, so it is harder for our Realistic theater to compete. I think we Americans love our musicals... To be fair, the whole world loves our musicals, but we Americans continue to think of musicals when we think of theater because they are essentially formalist creations that can't be precisely duplicated on film. (The film musical is an art form in its own right, but it is different.)

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 11:17pm

Thanks Gaveston--I'm glad some posters understood my point

I think the TV thing in particular is a good point--TV has become very much a writer's medium, the way theatre is and film has never truly been. Alan Ball's work on Six Feet Under has been better than any of his theatre or film work, for example. (It is true that this largely is a cable phenomenon, although some important voices like Aaron Sorkin, as much as I'm not a fan, have managed to be heard on network tv... We won't get into the Theresa Rebeck situation).

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 11:18pm

I mean, who knows. Maybe we're all to blame? I saw "Leap of Faith" tonight (see the previews thread for my review), and I was just astounded by how many people leap to their feet to applaud at the end. The girl in front of basically fell out of her chair to stand and clap and cheer and singalong. I mean, what? It was awful. I felt like someone wrote a score and a script then whitewashed the **** out of it until there was nothing left and then someone gave them millions of dollars and they blew it all on the fancy mirror jacket, so everything else just looked cheap.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 11:23pm

Eric, my favorite TV show of all time remains ONCE AND AGAIN, by Edward Zwick and Marshal Herskovitz. And while I agree with you about the wonders of cable, ONCE managed to last three, brilliant years on ABC!

Of late, I've been very surprised at how good PARENTHOOD has become. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be renewed.

Not SIX FEET UNDER good, but very good and surprisingly subtle at times.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 4/28/12 at 11:24pm

Ripped, I've long thought Broadway has become so expensive that people are just determined to believe they are being entertained, no matter what is put in front of them. I realize everyone here seems to get great discounts, but a lot of theatergoers are paying astronomical sums! How could they dare to think they were bored!