Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Riffing off of classics of Western drama: Thomas Bradshaw’s THE SEAGULL/WOODSTOCK, NY and Talene Monahon’s THE GOOD JOHN PROCTOR

• By drediman
• March 22, 2023
• No Comments

Over the course of the past few days, I caught two new Off-Broadway plays that riff off of classics of Western drama. Read on for my thoughts.

THE SEAGULL/WOODSTOCK, NY
The New Group at the Pershing Square Signature Center
Through April 9

Over the years, I’ve seen countless iterations of Chekhov’s seminal play The Seagull. Currently running at the Pershing Square Signature Center is another one of them — The New Group’s production of The Seagull/Woodstock NY by Thomas Bradshaw (RECOMMENDED). The probing playwright’s take on the ubiquitous classic aggressively transposes the work onto contemporary times, uncovering the immense comedy of our modern lives in ways that even Chekhov couldn’t have foreseen. Although some may take issue with what may seem like a lazy adaptation (admittedly, the Scott Elliott’s production is overlong and could use more alert pacing), I ultimately found the piece to be a nuanced examination of the inanity and emptiness of much of today’s society and culture. As such, Bradshaw sharpens both the comedy and drama that Chekhov had originally intended. Led by that most agitated star of film and television Parker Posey — who plays Parker Posey, deliciously, as the self-interested matriarch of the piece — the production features a slew of laissez-faire yet deeply distinctive performances that may not be to everyone’s taste.

THE GOOD JOHN PROCTOR
Bedlam at the Connelly Theatre
Through April 1

As with The Seagull, I’ve also seen more productions of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible than I care to admit. Leave it up to the folks at Bedlam. however, to stir it up a bit with their prequel of sorts — The Good John Proctor by Talene Monahon at the Connelly Theater (RECOMMENDED) — which imagines the lives of the girls leading up to the Salem Witch Trials dramatized by Miller’s oft-performed work (the characters in the play are based on real girls). Like Bradshaw’s The Seagull/Woodstock, NY, Monahon uses contemporary vernacular — at times shockingly — to bring newfound relevance and intimacy to the stories of these aldolescent girls as they navigate their budding desires and sense of power within a society that seems intent on stifling them. Even if the ultimate punchline of the play is a bit too much on point, I found it to be an interesting meditation on the circumstances that motivate and define one’s life. Directed with stylish dread by Caitlin Sullivan, the production features a quartet of excellent performances by Brittany K. Allen, Sharlene Cruz, Tavi Gevinson, and Susannah Perkins — all of whom bring beguiling specificity to their portrayals.