Posted: 4/2/16 at 9:58am
This astute review ^ answers all the questions I had about the material, which by its very design is rigged for a small space. Intimacy is key, perhaps even more than other solo plays. One guesses the success of "Buyer and Seller" led people to re-examine this piece as a vehicle for JTF. On paper, it makes perfect sense. Yet the play (a revision done two years ago at the Adirondack Theater Festival, though admittedly with an actor who wasn't ideal) isn't the freshest piece of material, even acknowledging its considerable charms. In fairness, as you note: The size of the venue can disarm, an audience can feel as if they are eavesdropping on unguarded moments, the suspension of disbelief becomes part of the easy bargain. But one you have a lot of space around the performer, we become acutely aware that we are in a Broadway theater watching a bravura turn. If the turn is say, Jullie Harris as Dickinson or Plummer as Barrymore, or (more recent) Midler as Mengers perhaps we enter into the bargain more readily. Watching a beleaguered restaurant staffer have an especially challenging day, even with opportunities for voices and lightning shifts of behavior, might just draw attention to contrivance. On the other hand, that may be an appreciated level of contrivance for some, and the show could be a hit.
