Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Apartment 3A
Annie (Marianna McClellan) needs help. She's broken things off with the love of her life after catching him neck deep in some gymnastic cheating, and she's just moved into a slum, trying to outrun her tears. What she gets is a new friend, Donald (Doug Nyman) an aggressively outgoing neighbor who shows up, LIKE AN ANGEL FROM HEAVEN, to help her adjust. This means forcing her to confront everything she's been running from (which is everything: she "cares too much in a world that doesn't give a shit"). First up, her hopelessly smitten coworker, Elliot (a bland Jay Rohloff), who happens to be a Catholic. I'm not sure why that's important, except that Jeff Daniels, who wrote the play, turns the end of the first act into a twenty minute debate between unconvinced, liberal Annie, and inexplicably faithful Elliot. This is complicated by Annie's simultaneous recounting of these events to Donald, a trick of staging that director Owen Smith fails at. The second act, post-coitus, is even worse, as the discussion tries to link back to religion: her double-digit orgasm is a "gift from god." It's not clear why Elliot is suddenly so brazen, nor why Annie is so open with Donald, and aside from a passably comic routine, there's very little revealed about character. Ultimately, that's the problem with Apartment 3A: the door's wide open, but nobody's home.
In your zeal to review many shows and use a clever tag line at the end of your review, you obviously prejudged the play, ignoring the content, acting, and directing. As the British say, "you are too clever by half".
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, I'd rather be too clever than not clever enough, but I am very honest: no prejudging here. I went into the play knowing nothing about it, enjoyed the first thirty minutes, and then grew exponentially bored. The content was predictable and expositional, the acting was mostly bland and unjustified, and the directing, as I mention, did not adequately capture the overlap of two-person scenes. It's very easy to write an anonymous comment that prejudges me (though I'm happy to have a reader weigh in), but even more so, I wish someone would give me a reason why they liked the play -- a conversation about theater can't simply be "You're wrong, period."
ReplyDeleteThe play touched emotions and issues we all struggle with from time to time in our lives: fear, failure, doubt, and loss of hope. It did this with humor and interesting dialogue. I was never confused over the staging and direction, as Owen Smith brilliantly captured the essence of Annie's struggle. My problem with your review is underscored by your last comment: "I enjoyed the first 30 minutes". Most reviewers provide candid insight into the play, describing the good and the bad. You didn't bother mentioning anything positive, even though you have since said you liked almost half of the play. The other thing about your review that I don't like is your attempt to give away the ending by using all caps in your description of Donald. Professional reviewers don't do that when reviewing theater, books, or film. The only thing I didn't like about this play was the 'sex scene' which I felt was a bit over the top and unnecessary. But, that was a minor flaw in my opinion. Overall, an excellent production in all respects.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous; thanks very much for your comments. You're correct in much of what you say; as for the capped part of my review, believe me -- if I wanted to give away the ending of the play, I could be much more obvious about it. As is, I subscribe to a belief that if the work reviewed does not DESERVE the surprise of its ending, the critic has the right (or duty) to spoil it. (And yes, professional critics DO subscribe to that belief.) I do apologize for not being more positive, but do remember that this is a BLOG: the reviews that I write can be found on http://thatsoundscool.blogspot.com. (I also think that the show is all the worse given that I liked the first 30 minutes and hated the next 90.) I try to be balanced, but you caught me on this one: which is why it's important that you've written in that you enjoyed the humor and emotions. Sincerely, thanks for writing in.
ReplyDelete