[NEohioPAL]Berko review: THE MERCY SEAT @ Ensemble Theatre

[Roy Berko]

THOUGHT PROVOKING BUT FLAWED ‘MERCY SEAT’ AT ENSEMBLE

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

The attack on the World Trade Center on September 11
was an event which forever changed American’s
attitudes about our lives.   It is against that
backdrop that Neil LaBute sets his play ‘THE MERCY
SEAT,’ now on stage at Ensemble Theatre. 

It’s September 12, and the day before young Ben
Harcourt was scheduled to attend a morning meeting at
the World Trade Center.  Instead, he was having sex
with his mistress and boss Abby, in her Manhattan
department.   He is still at Abby’s flat, watching the
devastating events unfold on television and
consciously choosing to ignore his mobile phone that
is ringing in his hand. He seizes on the terrorist
attack as an opportunity to start a new life with his
mistress and to allow his wife and children to believe
that he died in the terrorist attacks.  Abby, on the
other hand, wants Ben to call his wife and say he is
leaving her and live an “honest” life. 

Sounds like it could be intense, interesting.  Well,
it’s not.  After the exposition, we spend an hour and
forty minutes of dialogue in which we discover what a
spineless, self-absorbed, self-deluded repugnant
individual Ben is and how desperate his older mistress
is to have him for herself.  After a while all the
dialogue, the self-pitying, the self-loathing become
tedious.  

The question is:  why should we care about either of
these people?   On one hand, the characters represent
those who manipulate situations for their own needs. 
On the other hand, the characters, as written, don’t
seem to care about each other, so I found myself not
caring about them.   After a while I just wanted them
to shut up and let me go home to the real world where
I might find people who actually have joy and woes
that are of relevance. 

Neil LaBute has built a reputation for writing
disquieting plays that center on  despair.  He stated
in one interview that ‘Great good can come from
showing great evil.’  If that’s what he is trying to
say in ‘THE MERCY SEAT,’ he doesn’t succeed.  In
addition he indicated that the play's title is a
Biblical reference. The Mercy Seat was the top of the
Ark of the Covenant that in the temple was the one
space where God could come and man or the priests
could speak before him.  As it relates to the script,
it could be interpreted that the situation brought the
characters to the real truth of their actions.  That,
however, if not completely clear.

In the Ensemble Theatre production the performers,
John Kolibab and Meg Kelly Schroeder try hard, but
aren’t capable of overcoming the tediousness of the
script.  In addition,  the beautiful Schroeder appears
to be too young to be 12 years older than Kolibab. 
Kolibab, on the other hand, doesn’t develop the
intellect nor does he have the physical sensuality to
have a successful businesswoman, who has smashed her
way through the glass ceiling, to want to give it all
up for the likes of him.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  If you are a fan of LaBute’s movie
scripts, “THE SHAPE OF THINGS” or “IN THE COMPANY OF
MEN,” you may like ‘THE MERCY SEAT.’   If not, you
probably could find better ways to spend an evening.

‘THE MERCY SEAT’ runs in the Studio One Theater,
located in the in the Cleveland Play House complex,
through October 24.  For ticket information call
216-321-2930.   Ensemble’s next production is Horton
Foote’s ‘A TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL’ a story of an aging
widow living with her son and his controlling wife,
who is determined to recapture happiness by returning
to her childhood home in Bountiful, Texas.


=====
Roy Berko's web page can be found at royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, a free on-line source, which can be subscribed to at neohiopal at lists.fredsternfeld.com.


		
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>From Night Kitchen <nightkitchen at gmail.com>  Mon Oct 18 03:27:57 2004
From: Night Kitchen <nightkitchen at gmail.com> (Night Kitchen)
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 22:27:57 -0400
Subject: [NEohioPAL]Auditions for "Tape" by Stephen Belber
Message-ID: <b773977d04101719276eefdcc2 at mail.gmail.com>

Auditions for Night Kitchen's production of "Tape" by Stephen Belber

Jon, an aspiring filmmaker, meets up with his high school buddy,
Vince, to celebrate the showing of his film in an area festival.  Over
the course of the evening Vince forces Jon into a startling and
disturbing confession, throwing into question the events of one
evening 10 years ago.  In this sordid take on human relationships,
playwright Stephen Belber examines questions of motive, memory, truth
and perception.

Needed: 2 Male Actors (20s) and 1 Female Actress (20s).  Non-equity only.

Audition Dates and Times*:
Sunday, November 7th  5pm-7pm
Callbacks (if necessary): 
Monday, November 8th  7pm-8pm

*If you are unable to audition on the scheduled date but would still
like to audition, please contact us.

Audition Location:
Unitarian Universalist Society, 2728 Lancashire Road (between Euclid
Heights Blvd. and Coventry Rd.) in Cleveland Heights.

Auditions by Appointment ONLY.
Email Adrienne Moon at NightKitchen at gmail.com to schedule an audition time.  

Please be prepared with a 2-minute monologue or reading (comedy or
drama). Be prepared to do a cold reading from the script.  Please
bring headshot and resume, if available.

Small stipend available.

Performance Dates:
January 21st-February 6th, 2005
Fridays and Saturdays at 9pm
Sundays at 7pm

Performances at Dobama Theatre, 1846 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights.

We hope to see you at auditions!

-- 
Night Kitchen
Dobama Theatre
1846 Coventry Road
Cleveland Heights, OH  44118
(216) 932-3396
NightKitchen at gmail.com