THE LONG SHRIFT at Rattlestick

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 7/8/14 at 12:19pm

I went to the first preview of THE LONG SHRIFT last night at Rattlestick Playwrights. Generally I thought the show was alright.

The overall plot concerns a rape charge brought against a high school boy from a more popular girl. We get bits of information during the first scene with his parents discussing the situation. Fast forward 10 years to the guy's high school reunion after he's released from prison and confronted by his accuser that recanted testimony and freed him 5 years earlier. There isn't much depth in the script and you never really have strong feelings for any of the characters one way or another.

I honestly can't say if my feelings of ambivalence towards the characters came from the writing or the acting which I found to be mostly uneven. Scott Haze does an alright job in the "lead" role but you never get a sense that he has been in the situations like being imprisoned or falsely accused. The only thing I did get from him was a bit of stunted growth because he acted very childish and borderline bipolar. Brian Lally as the dad did nothing for me. I found his portrayal to be very flat and I think you're supposed to feel sorry for him throughout the show but I couldn't be bothered to care. The women fared far better with Ally Sheedy being the obvious standout for me. I wish she had been in more of the play (and given a better role during your time onstage) but she did the best with what she was given. Allie Gallerani served as a breath of fresh air in what could be a bit of a dour experience. Ahna O’Reilly played the "victim" really well although I would have liked a bit more oomph in the role.

I've seen the last three shows at Rattlestick and they seem to all have very similar sets (one section of a plain looking house). Maybe it wouldn't be as noticeable to someone who isn't as frequent a patron but I think there could be a little more variety. This set I cared for least of the three because there was a kitchen area that was never really utilized and I would have liked to have seen a little more function of the space. Last night there was a first preview hiccup when a curtain that was used to serve as the high school reunion didn't retract from the stage as planned.

The final piece of this puzzle is what most people were there for last night...James Franco. This serves as his stage directing debut and he brought Scott Haze along who he directed in the upcoming film CHILD OF GOD. This direction was not bad but I just wish there was more of a way to jazz up the mood since it comes across pretty flat. There is one sequence that goes from dream to flashback to dream and the set up is a little confusing. The flashback portion is in a car but you never fully realize that. This needs to be rethought a bit...or cut since I found it to add nothing to the proceedings.

Speaking of Franco, people really need to stop treating this guy like some demigod. Before the show people kept staring at him sitting in the back row. After the show people constantly spoke to him as if they were besties. He's a regular person with a job to do so let him live his life and do what needs to be done in this instance.

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 7/8/14 at 12:39pm

What time does a 7pm show end ?

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 7/8/14 at 12:41pm

The play ran about one hour 40 without intermission.

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 8:56am

I really enjoyed this show - found it a thrilling, engrossing, taut drama. I'm a huge Breakfast Club fan, so it was worth it just to be able to see Ally Sheedy live on stage.

It tells the story of a guy who is accused of rape and was in jail for 5 years, before his accuser recanted and gets him set free. What are the effects of this on everyone in his life - his mom, his dad, the accuser (who changes her name), and even a student planning their 10 year reunion. (The flashback scene worked fine - the lighting was changed to make it very clear that it was a flashback.) Understandably, there is quite a lot of rage and raw emotions, both underneath the surface and quite visibly shown.

Ally Sheedy was simply great on stage playing the angry mother, Brian Lally was another standout as the understanding father, and Scott Haze acted extremely well too (I expect to see a lot more of him on stage.) The show seemed like a "finished product" already at 1 hour 39 minutes, with all the "fat" already cut from it to form a very engrossing show. Definitely recommended.

Rattlestick dropped its prices to only $20 for this show, and is selling $5 student tickets.

The only change I'd make is that Rattlestick may want to remove the first row of seats from its theater. Those seats are simply way way too close to the stage. Anyone sitting in that row is basically looking at the actor's feet throughout the entire show. It looked especially painful for audience members during the high school reunion scene when the actors are standing at the front of the stage, since they'd have to look up at basically a (very very painful) 90 degree angle to see what's happening.





Updated On: 7/9/14 at 08:56 AM

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 11:14am

I saw it yesterday and hated just about every minute of it. The play seems endless. The writing is trite. The acting is uneven, though some are quite good. Oof. Why he chose this for his directorial debut is beyond me.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 7/9/14 at 11:51am

Can someone explain to me the purpose of that damn door dragging across the carpet? At first I thought it was a set issue but then it was mentioned by one of the character. If it was to hammer the point home about the place being crappy I think we got it plenty without that.

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 4:23pm

It is hard to begrudge James Franco’s foray into directing Off-Broadway. While working on “The Long Shrift,” he was performing eight times a week in “Of Mice and Men,” his Broadway acting debut. It is surely the case that Franco by his very presence has done more for New York theater this season than all us harping theater critics put together. One benefit of his work on Boswell’s play is that it brings attention to a question that few theatergoers probably bother to ask, much less attempt to answer: What exactly does a stage director do? In this case, the answer seems clear: Not enough.



The Long Shrift: James Franco Directs a Play Updated On: 7/16/14 at 04:23 PM

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 4:33pm

Page not found.

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 4:52pm

Sorry. Fixed

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 8/7/14 at 11:14am

Anyone else seen this?

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 8/7/14 at 12:57pm

James Franco seems to be going for a Jack of all Trades kind of thing here, with performing in a Broadway show, directing a movie, writing a book of poetry, a nonfiction book, and a collection of short stories. Now he has directed an off-Broadway play. The problem with this show is not that the material is bad, but Mr. Franco's direction sets the last nail in the coffin in determining his artistry: it doesn't exist, and he is trying to will it into existence. He genuinely seems to lack talent entirely in all aspects of anything he does, apart from 127 Hours, where he was serviceable if not actually "good". If you fail at everything, you don't get to call yourself an artist, and that is really what pisses me off about this show. He directs it as if he were an artist, but his lack of skill shows and it creates a show that has potential to be (almost) good, but instead comes across as unskilled an pretentious. I would avoid this at all costs if I were you. Horrible.