Black Tie

[After Eight]

Posted: 2/3/11 at 7:39am

A. R. Gurney continues to write plays at a steady clip. I'm sorry to say that the recent ones I've seen have been disappointing, and this one is no exception. This time, the major problem is a familiar one: most of the play involves narrating past or offstage events. The result is naturally, the expected one: A talky bore. There is the basis of an interesting theme in how one takes on the persona of one's parents, but it gets lost in the pallid proceedings. There are a smattering of laughs along the way, and the resolution is nicely done. But the talk is far from scintillating, and several characters, both on and off stage, are fairly offputting, which makes it hard to care and/or hear about them.

The best thing about the play is Daniel Davis's performance, who injects needed vitality and charisma into a play that on its own has very little of either.