i both appreciated and was v disappointed by this.
this thing flies by for the most part, which is saying alot since its 3.5 hours. the third act in particular grabs you. and the premise is fantastic as is the now trademark use of phone imagery to move things along. i thought wed be bombared with The Right Wing Nut and the Lefty Conscience but only two characters ever actually espouse political positions at all, and both are rational, understandable, sympathetic people. There is no cheap shots here and the subject--Israel and how American Jews relate to it--is handled intelligently and delicately. We essentially are given a debate between a liberal Zionist Democrat who turns anti Zionist, and a liberal Zionist Democrat who does not and you can feel the audience of New York Democrats nodding along at various points to both characters.
what does not work, shockingly, is the pacing and the humor. Eureka Day had me screaming with laughter more than a few times, but here, yikes- i think the dialogue gets better as the characters age, but the first act especially, it very much feels like an older guy trying to write 20-somethings and missing by a mile. i do not understand what certain romantic entanglements added here (get ready for Yondr pouches to accompany wholly pointless nudity), and it just feels so scattered and awkward at times. maybe that gets better as it gels with time? what will not get better with time is the fact that in a 3.5 hour play, these hyper politically focused characters never once get into these thorny issues beyond a high school textbook level at best.
the acting is mostly excellent, i was especially impressed with Zoe Winters but Molly Ranson too stands out. Ranson has a very powerful moment (and a not politically correct one) at the end that was handled so beautifully. Eli Gelb has his moments but I thought his character (all the male characters really) made no real sense, and he completely bungled his opening monologue and had to do it over. The character of Lev was particularly unfathomable, which may have been the actor? Liz Larsen is playing a ridiculous, almost offensive, character that i think is meant to be tension relieving humor but is not. and how can you name a central character Chaya, and then have her own mother and best friends pronounce her name as Haya? Lotta inauthentic moments to accompany the good stuff.
still, there are moments. theres a text thread on the screen that made me choke up and the third act has some punches i really felt.
glad i saw it, and hope it gets some further revisions.
was seated in front of Mare Winningham and Anthony Edwards, royalty, and a few seats down from Sepideh Moafi, which felt like a fun mix of ER-based TV celebrities. but plenty of empty seats on a saturday night, which is a shame. lots to like here.
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