Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Unlikely bedfellows: Cynthia Nixon and Taylor Trensch in THE SEVEN YEAR DISAPPEAR and Ellen Maddow and Paul Zimet in EXISTENTIALISM

• By drediman
• March 3, 2024
• No Comments

Human relationships come in all shapes and sizes — a fact illustrated by a pair of rigorous if not totally successful Off-Broadway two-handers. As always, read on for my thoughts on these two new works.

THE SEVEN YEAR DISAPPEAR
The New Group at Pershing Square Signature Center
Through March 31

Currently at Pershing Square Signature Center, you’ll find The New Group’s anticipated Off-Broadway production of The Seven Year Disappear by Jordan Seavey (RECOMMENDED). Headlined by popular screen actress Cynthia Nixon and the talented young actor Taylor Trensch, the new play tells the story of a world famous artist who disappears for seven years — perhaps intentionally as part of a grand artistic endeavor — leaving her gay son to fend for himself. Seavey’s work treads uncomfortably between parody and drama, particularly with respect to its depiction of the inner workings of the art world. The play is more successful when it delves into the various relationships between its characters. These punchy scenes give the play a kinetic forward momentum that drew me in. At the helm of the production is once again The New Group’s artistic director Scott Elliott, who’s slick, video-centric staging luckily distracts from some the script’s deficiencies. Additionally, Trench and Nixon are totally game, giving bold performances that pop onstage. In a brave turn, Trensch is effective as a young man earnestly looking for himself, often times in rather unsavory places. Chameleon-like, Nixon does a skillful job of shape-shifting between wildly disparate characters, playing not only the enigmatic artist at the play’s core, but also all of the other roles. It’s a choice that works thematically for the play, although their unsettling chemistry does also lend a certain incestuous quality to the proceedings.

EXISTENTIALISM
Talking Band at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
Through March 10

Then down at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in the East Village, Talking Band continues to celebrate its 50th anniversary season with Existentialism (RECOMMENDED). Staged by celebrated director Anne Bogart — the longtime head of the now sadly defunct SITI Company — the production is a meditative look at two neighbors of a certain age who live out the balance of their lives unpacking the nature of human existence in the face of passing time. Over the course of the hourlong piece, the two develop a relationship — an unlikely companionship in their twilight years — over their mutual quest to grasp the meaning of it all. The two-hander stars the husband-and-wife pairing of Talking Band stalwarts Ellen Maddow and Paul Zimet — who recently appeared together at PAC NYC in the hypnotic The Following Evening, which kicked off Talking Band’s landmark season and serves as a sort of companion piece to Existentialism in their contemplation of lives fully lived. Whereas The Following Evening is a wistful look at days gone by, Existentialism turns it’s attention to the present, future, and beyond. While I missed the moody, fluidly poetic stage pictures of the previous piece, Bogart’s staging at La MaMa takes a refreshingly upbeat cadence — splashed of humor and levity — despite its somber subject matter. Existentialism also puts the focus squarely on Maddow and Zimet, who turn in committed, utterly present performances. Seeing them defiantly still at it is a moving sight to behold.