Interludes

2013’s Best in New Plays

• By drediman
• January 10, 2014
• No Comments

2013 proved that, these days, the best place to catch the most exciting new plays is Off-Broadway. Established playwrights such as Richard Greenberg, Amy Herzog, and Conor McPherson all unleashed their excellent latest works away from the the glaring, risky spotlight of the Great White Way.

(Note: the list below is in alphabetical order)

1. The Assembled Parties

The only Broadway production on my list of the best new plays of 2013, the exquisite but under-appreciated “The Assembled Parties” marked playwright Richard Greenberg’s return to form since his early 2000 hit, “Take Me Out”. Set in a sprawling Upper West Side apartment at two points over the course of several decades, “Parties” paints a portrait a family’s decline from prominence. Julie, the family’s matriarch, was played by the elegant, incandescent Jessica Hecht, who was robbed of a Tony nomination.  Judith Light, who did win a Tony for her performance here, played Julie’s sister-in-law, Faye, with terrific acidic brio.

2. Belleville

Amy Herzog’s subtle psychological thriller, “Belleville”, received a pitch perfect staging at New York Theater Workshop. Reminiscent of “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, Ms. Herzog’s play is a study on how deception and hidden truths can corrupt a relationship. To their immense credit, Maria Dizzia and Greg Keller, in performances of great skill, made their characters’ downward spiral excruciatingly difficult to watch.

3. The Flick

“The Flick”, Annie Baker’s perceptive play about the basic human need to connect, was staged with gentle guidance by director Sam Gold at Playwrights Horizons. The painstakingly realistic production, set in a run-down movie theater in some American suburbia, featured beguiling, straightforward performances from its young cast that created sympathy for the play’s unsympathetic characters.

4. The Night Alive

Conor McPherson’s new tone poem of a play, “The Night Alive”, arrived in New York at the Atlantic Theater Club direct from London’s Donmar Warehouse, with its entire excellent original cast intact. Chilling and heartwarming in equal measure, the play is a meditation on reality and redemption. McPherson, who directed the play himself with a steady hand, coaxed some breathtaking acting from each actor in his ensemble.  It’s hard and unfair to single any one actor out, as a result.

5. Regular Singing

This final installment in Richard Nelson’s astute Apple Family Plays is a fitting, moving close to a quietly monumental piece of American playwrighting. It’s difficult to discuss “Regular Singing” without taking into account the three low-key but involving plays that come before it: “That Hopey Changey Thing”, “Sweet and Sad”, and “Sorry”. Although these plays are time capsules of specific time (now) and place (Rhinebeck, NY), they explore universal social and political themes that bind us humans to each other.  The prolific Public Theater staged all four plays in repertory last year in a way that did not seem staged at all (direction by Mr. Nelson), which is the very best compliment I can give. The mesmerizing ensemble work here is some of the very best I’ve seen.