Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Cecily Strong gives it the good old college try in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE at The Shed

• By drediman
• January 12, 2022
• No Comments

Last night, the revival of Jane Wagner’s The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe opened off-Broadway at The Shed at Hudson Yards. Ever since the play’s premiere (it originally ran on Broadway in 1985), the work has been synonymous with the great Lily Tomlin. Trimmed and somewhat revised (the piece has done away with its intermission and eschewed some of its characters), the revival – featuring a deceptively simple staging by director Leigh Silverman – arrives in New York with a new leading lady, Cecily Strong of Saturday Night Live fame.

In structure, Ms. Wagner’s play is essentially a series of interweaving character sketches designed to be played by a single actress. Although the characters generally aren’t aware of each other, the work’s overarching architecture highlights their unbeknownst affect on one another. Nearly three decades onwards, The Search for Signs still has a lot to say about the human condition, namely human connection and that age old conundrum regarding the meaning of life – or the lack thereof. As such, the play still effectively waffles between absurdity/profundity and comedy/drama, even if some aspects of the writing haven’t aged so well (e.g., Ms. Wagner sometimes leans too heavily into self help didacticism).

Although I haven’t seen Ms. Tomlin in the role(s) (I wish!), Ms. Strong – at least on paper – would seem like a worthy successor. Indeed, the many years she’s spent honing her craft as a character actress on Saturday Night Live is the ideal background for someone tackling the immense challenge of stepping into Ms. Tomlin’s shoes. Ms. Strong gives it the old college try and moderately succeeds in a skillful but ultimately one-note showing. What’s missing from her performance is the manic drive that I suspect Ms. Tomlin (knowing her style) brought to the role, which would have brought Ms. Wagner’s characters into sharper focus.

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THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
Off-Broadway, Play
The Shed
1 hour, 35 minutes (without an intermission)
Through February 6