Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Andre Royo masterfully and vividly animates Audible’s revival of DRINKING IN AMERICA by Eric Bogosian

• By drediman
• April 4, 2023
• No Comments

Last night at the Minetta Lane Theater, I attended Audible Theater’s Off-Broadway revival of Drinking in America by Eric Bogosian. Written in 1986, the work is comprised of a series of monologues that involve, invariably, an array of male prototypes in varying degrees of intoxication. The production stars Andre Royo (of The Wire fame), who takes on the challenging task of shape-shifting through Bogosian’s creations.

Despite Royo’s acting prowess (more on that later), the question remains whether the play — with its denizens of chauvinist, womanizing characters — deserves a major revival like this one in the first place. Personally, I would argue that without the darkness, we would’t recognize the light in life. Indeed, as a study of toxic masculinity, Bogosian has conjured a parade of finely-etched characterizations that are models of how precisely not to live one’s life.

And in the masterful hands of of the immensely talented and charismatic Royo — who returns to New York and the stage after years on the West Coast pursuing a career in television — Bogosian’s flawed, mostly despicable creations come to vivid and forceful life. Indeed, over the course of the 90-minute production (robustly directed by Mark Armstrong), you simply can’t take you’re eyes off the train wrecks up for assessment on the stage of the Minetta Lane.

RECOMMENDED

DRINKING IN AMERICA
Off-Broadway, Play
Audible Theater at the Minetta Lane Theatre
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through April 13