American Sligo

****1/2

Rattlestick
photo: Sandra Coudert


With each new play, the young, prolific Adam Rapp continues to hone in on his caustic, cruelly funny, original voice as a playwright. His latest sick, mean comedy spends an evening with the Sligos, a violently dysfunctional American clan all sucking off the teat of the pro-wrestling father nicknamed "Crazy Train". This meditation on insult and aggression, two traits closely identified with American character as of late, speaks volumes on the ugly underbelly of the modern American fractured family. Many of Rapp's pet actors are back again and in top form with Paul Sparks expertly playing one of the most diabolical villains I have seen all year. Mary Louise Burke is priceless as the only polite one of the bunch hellbent on maintaining the smallest shred of decorum. Oh look! They have a Youtube clip! How post-millennium! I cannot wait to see Rapp's latest, Bingo With The Indians, at the Flea later this month.