I must disagree with the rave. Over 24 hours later, I'm still reliving various scenes from the play in my mind, because it was gritty, interesting, entertaining, thought-provoking, and enjoyable. One does not always (or often) get the privilege of watching a play that is so...timely.
But it was far from perfect. While the characters and story of very interesting, the play itself feels like it drags on and on and on. The first 90% of the play felt as though the characters and story were all running in place...and then, in the last few minutes, there was a whirlwind of plot development. In theater, of course, it is unnecessary for plot to develop at breakneck speed; it's nice to get to know the characters deeply and watch them grow over two and a half hours, even if not much happens storywise. But here I felt that we became acquainted with the characters rather early on, and didn't get to know them much more deeply over the ensuing two hours. The climax of the play certainly makes for an interesting jolt, but the build-up could have been cut by 30 - 45 minutes without missing a beat.
The other negative is not something one sees too frequently on Broadway: subpar acting. Perhaps because it was a first preview, it'll take some time for the actors to settle into their roles, but with the exception of one character (the bartender) I did not for one second believe that these were blue-collar workers from a hardscrabble town. Everything about them screamed "I am an urbane, sophisticated, city-dweller pretending to be salt of the earth." I could not suspend my disbelief. If you've spent significant time out in the "heartland" of this country -- outside of the metropolitan bubbles surrounding NYC, LA, etc. -- you know that there is just something...different...about people who don't live in the megalopolises on the coast. You can just feel it, detect it, see it, when you travel this country and interact with others...there's an authentic Americun!ism that is so very different from what one encounters here in NYC. While that trait is instantly detectable among real-life Americunns, I got none of that -- none -- from the denizens at Studio 54. They were all clearly actors, dressing up, playing make-believe, and putting on a show. And that took me completely out of the moment.
Sigh.
Great that this kind of story is being told on Broadway, though. It is a searing, gut-wrenching play. Despite the quibbles, I definitely recommend it.
