OUT Review RING TWICE FOR MIRANDA NEW YORK CITY CENTER STAGE II
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magine if life as you knew it stopped. Everyone was fleeing any way they could. Crime was breaking out all over the place. The world had become a dark, dangerous place. But you had to stay working for a very wealthy, but ailing old man. He keeps you imprisoned, yet safe from the dangers of the outside world. It sounds kind of creepy, yes? Now imagine that story is a comedy. Miranda (Kate Kleiger) and Elliot (George Merrick) work for Sir (Graeme Malcolm). They have all the food and beer they could ever want, and spend their hours playing cards, waiting for Sir to ring the bell for assistance, twice for Miranda, three times for Elliot. Then, out of the blue, Sir lets them go, and they’re forced to leave the sanctuary they called home and venture into a dark, unknown world.
Written by Alan Hruska, you can clearly see the influences of George Orwell. Jason Sherwood deserves a special mention as the sets are very clever and inventive, whether it’s an opulent mansion or crumbling streetscape. Kate Kleiger is the stand-out performance, engaging the entire time she’s on stage. The audience spends a lot of time trying to figure out the plot as it unfolds. Don’t get me wrong, there are funny moments, but you do wonder the purpose of the stage play. We’ve all had moments where we’ve imagined what would happen if everything we know and love was lost in an effort to simply survive. But that thought doesn’t make me want to laugh. Run ends April 16. Follow Matt D’Silva on Twitter @MattDSilva
Review EVENING AT THE TALK HOUSE THE PERSHING SQUARE SIGNATURE CENTER
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love Wallace Shawn. He stumbles on stage in his PJs, chatting amiably with the audience, looking dishevelled, cheek bruised, but still impish, eyes twinkling. We’re drinking pastel-colored water, eating marshmallows, the audience a part of this intimate reunion of cast and crew on the 10th anniversary of opening night of an under-appreciated masterpiece. And, of course, we meet at their old hang out, The (now deeply unfashionable) Talk House. The play’s writer is present (Matthew Broderick) and its star, now both big names in television. They reminisce, eat cheese (Lord, this play made me hungry!), mix drinks …
Then Shawn (also the writer of Talk House) appears and things take a turn for the sinister. There’s a bristling sense of resentment, the suggestion of beatings … and more: targeted killings of those nearest and dearest to our friends on stage. What? Civilization as we know it, it seems, is in decline, and art – the theater – has done nothing to prevent it. I begin to feel a little like Shawn’s character, crashing a party where insider jokes and show-folk references leave some of the audience chuckling away knowingly; others just dreaming about a large slice of brie. Runs through March 12. Ruth Walker
DIGITAL EDITION
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