#1
Posted: 10/18/08 at 10:56pm
Terrible play; excellent performances.
A mother and son go to New York to see the hit musical of the day: a bohemian love story called "Survivin'." Mother, dying of cancer with, oh, a month to live, invites the friendly taxi driver to use her son's ticket, because he's a cranky seventeen year old who has no interest in musicals, even if it is the hit of the generation. So while he's alone, a model-esque woman walks into the hotel room, and they chat for a while.
There's a lot of chatting going on, not a lot of action. KINDNESS is a conversation piece about survivin', both the idea of it and the musical, which, featuring a black electronics genius, a Latino drag queen, and an act 2 opener that has everyone in a line at the front of the stage singing, bares a striking resemblance to the show which made Rapp's brother famous.
You see, it's son's idea to kill mother, put her out of her agonizing misery. How to do it? By hammering her skull. In fact, you don't know whether or not he will do it, though you can assume what'll happen, and in the end, that largely comes true.
In order to fully buy into the play, you must buy into the ideas Rapp proposes to further the plot: the girl who wanders in, the mother who becomes friendly with the taxi driver, the son who's willing to take his mother's life with a hammer.
It's not a great play, it just lays there like a lump. The performances liven it up a great deal. Christopher Denham, Rapp-veteran, plays teenage angst very well; Katherine Waterston is a minx-like chameleon, and Ray Thomas does what he can with his go-nowhere part.
The real performance to watch is the unquestionably brilliant one by Annette O'Toole. To watch her, you just want to cry for this poor dying woman who wants one final nice time with her son, who just won't give it to her. Simply shattering.
Rapp's potshots at theater are the funniest bits of dialogue, from commentary on audiences and standing ovations, to everything mocking RENT. I just couldn't figure out what he wanted the whole thing to amount to.
One major highlight: the scenic design by Lauren Helpern. A dead-on replication of a tremendously bland motel room.
A mother and son go to New York to see the hit musical of the day: a bohemian love story called "Survivin'." Mother, dying of cancer with, oh, a month to live, invites the friendly taxi driver to use her son's ticket, because he's a cranky seventeen year old who has no interest in musicals, even if it is the hit of the generation. So while he's alone, a model-esque woman walks into the hotel room, and they chat for a while.
There's a lot of chatting going on, not a lot of action. KINDNESS is a conversation piece about survivin', both the idea of it and the musical, which, featuring a black electronics genius, a Latino drag queen, and an act 2 opener that has everyone in a line at the front of the stage singing, bares a striking resemblance to the show which made Rapp's brother famous.
You see, it's son's idea to kill mother, put her out of her agonizing misery. How to do it? By hammering her skull. In fact, you don't know whether or not he will do it, though you can assume what'll happen, and in the end, that largely comes true.
In order to fully buy into the play, you must buy into the ideas Rapp proposes to further the plot: the girl who wanders in, the mother who becomes friendly with the taxi driver, the son who's willing to take his mother's life with a hammer.
It's not a great play, it just lays there like a lump. The performances liven it up a great deal. Christopher Denham, Rapp-veteran, plays teenage angst very well; Katherine Waterston is a minx-like chameleon, and Ray Thomas does what he can with his go-nowhere part.
The real performance to watch is the unquestionably brilliant one by Annette O'Toole. To watch her, you just want to cry for this poor dying woman who wants one final nice time with her son, who just won't give it to her. Simply shattering.
Rapp's potshots at theater are the funniest bits of dialogue, from commentary on audiences and standing ovations, to everything mocking RENT. I just couldn't figure out what he wanted the whole thing to amount to.
One major highlight: the scenic design by Lauren Helpern. A dead-on replication of a tremendously bland motel room.
