Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – David Greenspan decadently sinks his teeth into Joey Merlo’s hallucinatory ON SET WITH THEDA BARA

• By drediman
• February 27, 2024
• No Comments

Any opportunity to witness David Greenspan in action is an occasion to savor. Over the years, the cherished downtown actor has made a name for himself for appearing in virtuosic one person shows that have tested the limit of his endurance and abilities — perhaps the most extreme example being his astonishing solo undertaking of Eugene O’Neill’s mammoth Pulitzer Prize-winning yet rarely-performed Strange Interlude back in 2017. No different is his latest one person undertaking, Joey Merlo’s pungent new play On Set with Theda Bara, which has returned to The Brick in Williamsburg after proving a hit earlier this year at the Exponential Festival.

Happily, Merlo’s hallucinatory, melodramatic work falls right in the actor’s wheelhouse. The play centers around the disappearance of a genderqueer teen and their gay detective father who attempts to get to the bottom of the mystery. At the center of it all, however, is the vampy silent film star Theda Bara, whose voracious spirit attempts to infiltrate the characters’ psyches, occasionally to deliciously campy effect. Given this description, Greenspan’s penchant for gothic delivery, extravagant gestures, and rapid-fire exchanges fit the material like a glove — and he does not disappoint — sinking his teeth decadently into the material. Although the writing gets murky at points — which I suspect is the point — Greenspan does an excellent job of shaping and pacing an experience that could have easily devolved into incomprehensibility.

One of the main draws of the production is the intimate, immersive staging by Jack Serio — a fast-rising director in the Off-Off-Broadway scene — which transforms The Brick into an immersive playing space dominated by a long table around which the audience is seated (each performance accommodates only approximately 50 audience members). The setup calls to mind an atmospheric séance, which is a fitting metaphor for a play that spends much of its effort conjuring the spirit of Theda Bara. But most importantly, Serio’s staging gives Greenspan fans the rare opportunity to experience the actor cast his distinctive spell in close quarters.

RECOMMENDED

ON SET WITH THEDA BARA
Off-Broadway, Play
Transport Group and Lucille Lortel Theatre at The Brick
1 hour, 5 minutes (without an intermission)
Through March 16