THE HANGOVER REPORT – The kid’s aren’t alright: Bess Wohl’s haunting, haunted MAKE BELIEVE fearlessly dramatizes childhood trauma

Ryan Foust, Maren Heary, and Casey Hilton in the Second Stage production of "Make Believe" by Bess Wohl at the Tony Kiser Theater. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Ryan Foust, Maren Heary, and Casey Hilton in the Second Stage production of “Make Believe” by Bess Wohl at the Tony Kiser Theater. Photo by Joan Marcus.

This week at Off-Broadway’s Tony Kiser Theater, I caught Make Believe, Bess Wohl’s latest – and perhaps finest – play to date, courtesy of Second Stage Theater. The play tells the story of the four Conlee children, who find themselves mysteriously abandoned by their parents for days on end. Left to their own devices and imagination, they create for themselves a family structure of their own. Fast forward a few decades, the Conlees continue to find themselves traumatized by their childhood (an effect reminiscent of Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece Follies).

One of Ms. Wohl’s most distinctive assets is her incessantly fertile imagination. Plays like her hit Small Mouth Sounds and more recently this spring’s Continuity have showed a vigorous mind set on dismantling this thing we call human existence. Even if her way with dialogue hasn’t always been quite on par with her works’ stimulating premises, they nonetheless make for vital theatrical experience. With Make Believe, she’s just about bridged that disparity; the play explodes with scenes of breathtaking daring and aching sensitivity that work powerfully in performance.

Michael Greif’s haunting, haunted production for Second Stage is superb (David Zinn’s detailed attic set is pitch perfect). He skillfully brings delicacy to a play which banks on its bold strokes. Mr. Greif’s work with the top-notch cast is excellent, particularly the four child actors. Their fearless early scenes scream with both vulnerability and childhood brashness. At points, it was difficult to watch them in the midst of trauma, especially without having the vocabulary to self-diagnose their experience. Their adult counterparts give performances that are beautifully-etched, but Make Believe disarmingly belongs to the kids.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

 

MAKE BELIEVE
Off-Broadway, Play
Second Stage Theater / Tony Kiser Theater
1 hour, 20 minutes (without an intermission)
Through September 22

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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