Damascus

Quite simply, it's taken me this long to write the review for one reason: if I'm bored at a play, I'm going to be bored writing the review. Thankfully, with that dreadful bit of snark out of my system, I can say the following things about Traverse Theatre Company's production of David Greig's Damascus. (1) Critics only complain about bad microphones when they don't actually care what the person is saying. The rest of the time, they're listening too closely to jot anything down. (2) Don't prove yourself capable of linguistic nuance or creative narrative (as with Yellow Moon), for once you do, everything else you do after that will always seem all the more mundane, especially when it actually is. (3) If you're doing a straight play about differences in culture, don't set your play in a chain hotel's lobby. Also, if it's to be understood that someone is speaking foreignlish (it's implied that the actor is not actually speaking English on stage, but another language), make sure that's clear. Not every play can be The Internationalist. (4) Don't bore a critic. Even if he says he's got the snark out of his system, it'll still be obvious to everyone that he hasn't.