APOLOGIA (seen in London, Sept 2017)
Do we really need a play about upper middle-class (or upper
class, they certainly seem well-to-do) 20/30-somethings who are upset with
their mom because they (mis)perceive she did not pay enough attention to them
while they were growing up, much less because she didn’t stand up to their “brutal”
(the alleged brutality vague) dad or spent too much focus on her job? Do we need another script with an old friend
gay guy to punctuate with comic relief, the same old jokes gay guys have been punctuating
with for at least the 40 years I’ve been going to the theater, probably longer? And how much shorthand contemporary family
angst should we have to tolerate instead of true character development? Popular tropes are dished out, nothing new or
specific. One of the ironies of this
play is that a character is criticized for her role in a soap opera (for financial
expedience) instead of pursuing serious on stage drama; money over art. This production is the star vehicle for money
type, a weak script mini-soap opera with a concluding obvious twist, masquerading
as a serious investigation of the world or offering epiphanies into The Family
and Art. A monologue about Giotto is supposed to
explain the sublime and provide depth but is packed with contemporary anachronism
while appearing to take African art seriously panders to an audience that wants
to feel erudite and culturally inclusive.
Highbrow soap opera structured as a stage play. – No blame to the cast,
all great except for the main lead, who will be headlining on Broadway for the
NY production, who was miscast. Well,
maybe not; Stockard Channing is ideal for the role as the point is star value
to sell tickets for a weak vehicle, the script, filler to populate the stage with
stars.
Maybe I was spoiled a few weeks earlier by seeing Kevin
Kline and a brilliant cast in an excelsior production of Present Laughter on Broadway. I mention it because is it an example of an
outstanding crafted script marketed with a big star who delivered. And even
though the play claimed to be no more than a silly comedy, it packed far more
insight too.
