Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – David Greenspan singlehandedly breathes live into Barry Connors’ THE PATSY in a dazzling, tour de force performance

• By drediman
• April 13, 2022
• No Comments

Last night, I ventured down to Abrons Arts Center in the Lower East Side to catch David Greenspan singlehandedly breathe life into Barry Connors’ play The Patsy, which was a hit on Broadway when it was originally performed in 1925. Since then, the play – an amusing piece about young love and social status – has all but been forgotten. In 2011, however, it was re-conceived to great acclaim by Mr. Greenspan and Transport Group as a tour de force vehicle for a single actor. More than a decade onwards, Mr. Greenspan dazzlingly returns to the role in a revival that marks Transport Group’s return to in-person performances since pre-pandemic times.

To say that Mr. Greenspan’s astonishing performance is merely skillful would be a tremendous understatement. The actor leans into the play’s thick melodrama with relish, manically hurtling through the play’s three acts like speeding train as if by muscle memory (or possessed by the play itself). Indeed, the full throttle velocity and balletic physicality of his performance is breathtaking to behold. It’s an instinctual, free-wheeling approach to acting that’s made all the more impressive by its level of precision and attention to detail. Since I missed Mr. Greenspan in The Patsy the first time around, I’m grateful to have the current opportunity to experience his much talked-about performance.

The Transport Group production has been artfully directed, as per usual, by the theater company’s Artistic Director Jack Cummings III. As a director, Mr. Cummings has always had a keen and adventurous sense of theatricality; over the years, he’s restlessly played with the possibilities of scale, immersion, and perspective. In The Patsy, he and Mr. Greenspan have landed on a formula that’s sure to become a signature concoction for both theater artists. (Note that the duo also performed the same hat trick – albeit on a much grander scale – when Mr. Greenspan tackled Eugene O’Neills notorious 6-hour play Strange Interlude in 2017.)

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

THE PATSY
Off-Broadway, Play
Transport Group at Abrons Arts Center
1 hour, 20 minutes (without an intermission)
Through April 30