The Altruists (in NJ)

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 12:03am

This is what I knew before going:

"The author of such wickedly funny plays as The Food Chain and Pterodactyls skewers the self-righteousness of political activists as this modern farce makes its New Jersey debut. A dedicated, if disorganized and demented, group of young radicals has their morality put to the test when one of them fires a gun into a sleeping body. The action in this fast-paced black comedy ricochets between an anorexic soap opera star and her brother, a charismatic revolutionary and the lesbian who loves him, and a hustler in search of a guava. Adult situations and language."

The Altruist by Nicky Silver
Performed at the Nutley Little Theater, in Nutley, NJ
Directed by Penny Paul
Cast: Rick Brown (Ronald), Gina Capano (Sydney), Francesco Paladino (Lance), Jessica Colotta (Cybil), and Sean Day (Ethan)

Tonight, for $12 (and free on the street parking), I was in the second row of the 48 seat Nutley Little Theater and saw a hilarious and professionally executed show. It helps that the play itself is well-written and very funny, but the cast of five, each very talented, worked well together and had precision timing. Nicky Silver's style includes a lot of fast-paced banter that would be easy to kill. This cast got it right.

As a former pinko activist in my younger days, it was a little uncomfortable watching the microscope focus on the hypocrisy and sloganism frequently found amongst leftist throngs. Too often, rallies and protest marches were a place to see and be seen...great places to socialize and meet new people. It would be fair to say that more than a few people at such events had only a passing familiarity with the issues about which they were protesting. As the publicity blurb stated, this play takes aim and skewers the double-standards and insincerity rampant in the counter-culture. I was a little worried in the second act that it might not all come together. But it did. And the character that I initially perceived to be a superficial charicature, was the one who in the end, was the most sympathetic. All of the characters were grossly stereotypical...but it was clearly intentional.

The Altruists had a run off-Broadway a few years ago, with Veanne Cox as Sydney. Nicky Silver also wrote the new book for the 2002 Roundabout production of The Boys from Syracuse. I've not seen any of his other works, but a quick Google search showed that he has a reasonably impressive body of work which has been produced in some well-know venues. He has a dark humor that I find appealing, and a way with words and phrases that I find amusing. Based on tonight's show, I would probably go to something else he's written, just because he was the author.

'Twas a good...and affordable...night of theater at an obscure, but established, little facility in Nutley, NJ. I'll definitely go back if this is representative of the quality of their productions.

Updated On: 2/13/05 at 12:03 AM

[holden]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 10:32pm

Thanks for mentioning this, iflitifloat. I saw THE ALTRUISTS at the Vineyard a few years back and really enjoyed it -- and I thought that BEAUTIFUL CHILD was great too. This one might be worth a look.