VIEWPOINTS – Two anticipated new plays fall far short of expectations: SUNDAY, RUNBOYRUN & IN OLD AGE

This week, two anticipated productions of new plays opened Off-Broadway – Jack Thorne’s Sunday courtesy of Atlantic Theater Company and Mfoniso Udofia’s pair of new plays runboyrun and In Old Age at New York Theatre Workshop. Unfortunately, both cave under the weight of their self-indulgence, falling far short of expectations, which is surprising given my past admiration of these playwrights’ works and both theater companies’ excellent track records.

Maurice Jones and Sadie Scott in Atlantic Theater Company's production of "Sunday" by Jack Thorne at the Linda Gross Theater. Photo by Monique Carboni.

Maurice Jones and Sadie Scott in Atlantic Theater Company’s production of “Sunday” by Jack Thorne at the Linda Gross Theater. Photo by Monique Carboni.

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Mr. Thorne’s two most notable plays, the coming-of-age vampire drama Let the Right One In and the two-part, Tony-winning Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – both stage adaptations of recognizable fantastical franchises. Hence, I was eager to check out Sunday (SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED), the playwright’s original new play about a fateful gathering at an informal book club organized by a group of just-out-of-college friends. In his previous plays, Mr. Thorne showed a keen interest in diving into the psyche of young minds. The same thing is true of Sunday – his carefully-drawn characters are predictably uncertain and tormented in love, career prospects, and just how to approach life in general. However, as the the play unfolds, it takes on a curiously stagnant quality, and the plaintive angst of its characters becomes increasingly grating. It’s as if left to his own devices – without the framework and forward narrative momentum afforded by adapting a preexisting work – the playwright seems lost.  In short, the intermission-less play is interminable, despite the soulful efforts of its youthful cast. As if to give the production a boost in the arm, director Lee Sunday Evans injects the piece with a number of jarring but pointless dance interludes, which has the inverse effect of exposing the text’s lethargy. Suffice to say, I was disappointed.

The company of Mfoniso Udofia's "runboyrun" (the first of a double bill, which also includes "In Old Age") at New York Theatre Workshop. Photo by Joan Marcus.

The company of Mfoniso Udofia’s “runboyrun” (the first play of a double bill, which also includes “In Old Age”) at New York Theatre Workshop. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Then there’s runboyrun and In Old Age (SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED), which is just as dispiriting. With this pair, Ms. Udofia continues her epic nine-play cycle about the Nigerian immigration experience – collectively titled “The Ufot Cycle” – which commenced a few seasons ago with Sojourners and Her Portmanteau, both previously also seen at NYTW (the former of which was workshopped at Playwrights Realm, as well). If I thought Sunday was interminable, Ms. Ufodia’s latest plays are perhaps even more so, especially with a combined running time of three-and-a-half hours. As with Mr. Thorne’s earlier plays, I have mostly favorable memories of Ms. Ufodia’s aforementioned works that kicked off the cycle. Unfortunately, the current set of plays – which largely revolve around the oft-visited theme of the past tormenting the present – is an unsteady and unwieldy combination of heavy-handed conceit and gratuitous writing (perhaps they needed to be further developed and workshopped?), despite surprising flashes of ravishing poetry. Likewise, the production, directed by Loretta Greco and Awoye Timpo, also has moments of striking theatricality (especially via the atmospheric lighting and sound designs) despite suffering from painfully slugging pacing. But then there’s the towering performance by Patrice Johnson Chevannes, who portrays the haunted, beset-upon Abasiama, a Nigerian immigrant woman who is the cycle’s nexus, at two stages of her life (runboyrun precedes In Old Age chronologically by about 50 years). It’s a visceral piece of acting that undeservedly injects the half-baked plays with piercing lyricism and astonishing power.

 

SUNDAY
Off-Broadway, Play
Atlantic Theater Company / Linda Gross Theater
1 hour, 45 minutes (without an intermission)
Through October 13

RUNBOYRUN & IN OLD AGE
Off-Broadway, Play
New York Theatre Workshop
3 hour, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Through October 13

 

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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