DOWNSTATE Previews — Page 2

This is the best play of the season and we've only just begun. I have a hard time imagining anything will top this one.

Spoilers, obviously:

I saw this at Playwrights Horizons and had forgotten a lot of the specifics so it was a thrill to see it again this weekend. I will admit that the set looked almost exactly as it did in my fuzzy memory of the off-Broadway production.

K. Todd Freeman is fantastic. He is hilarious, tender, menacing, and at times downright malevolent. He needs to clean up his diction a bit because some of his lines were mush-mouthed but otherwise he is pretty much perfect.

I immediately remembered Francis Guinan from Playwrights as soon as the play began. His sickly sweet performance and his Winnie the Pooh voice make my skin crawl. It's a very specific and complex performance, and his Fred makes me want to scream with fury. He is unforgettable in this play.

Liza Colón-Zayas is perfectly cast here (my heart goes out to the actress from Playwrights, who I also remember being perfect) but she needs another week or two. I suspect she was the actor who was sick because she missed a line or two and her voice sounded tired. But she brings exactly the right energy to the role and I think she will settle into an amazing performance. There was a somewhat embarrassing light cue issue in one of her scenes.

I hope Cassie Beck, Al'Jaleel McGhee, and Ivy Wolk stop playing for laughs as soon as possible. This play is hilarious, but the humor is dark, subtle, and based in an ugly truth. It doesn't need any help from the actors. The audience will find the humor. In my opinion, it should be played as straight as possible, starting from the very first scene. There is a lot of humor to be found in all the disturbing tragedy in this play, but leave that to us to decide.

The "twist" can be seen (or smelled) a mile away but it's still very effective and disturbing. Many people in the audience gasped loudly. Adrian Martinez is perfect in the short time he has on stage.

This is a pretty perfect night at the theatre.

I read this when it was first published but have never had the opportunity to see a production. Interested in catching this next month. Two spoiler questions:

Ah! Yes, I think I was. Thank you for clarifying :)