[NEohioPAL] Review of "The New Century" at Dobama

[Bob Abelman]

Flaming clichés serve a greater good in 'The New Century' at Dobama

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the News-Herald on 12/17/10

 

There may be Dickens in downtown Cleveland but there's Rudnick in Cleveland Heights.  

 

In the classic A Christmas Carol, on stage for the holidays at PlayhouseSquare, Charles Dickens transports his audience to the dark and despairing world of 19th century London, where the unfortunate-the sick and the poor-are displaced and marginalized.  From this heart wrenching drama springs forth compassion for others and good will toward all.

 

Playwright Paul Rudnick's The New Century, at Dobama Theatre, has the same effect, but his time is now, his disenfranchised are members of the gay and lesbian community and their families, and he employs a very different means of storytelling:  uproarious humor. 

 

The New Century is a play in four parts, where the first three parts are individual character studies and the fourth brings all these characters together.  Each part is non-stop, laugh-out-loud hilarious with punch lines thrown with such frequency and precision that most hit a funny bone squarely and firmly.  They hit with such force-the result of covert poignancy-that they leave an impression.

 

A laugh with residual resonance is Rudnick's trademark.  However, in The New Century, it's a tough sell.

 

His scene-length monologues have all the indicators of stand-up comedy sketches.  They offer preposterous situations with broadly drawn sexual and cultural stereotypes with no apparent higher calling.  They run the risk of being insulting and vacuous if not for the skill with which their veiled vibrato is revealed by director Scott Plate and the expertise with which it is performed by his brilliant cast.

 

Jean Kauffman opens the show as über-Jewish mother Helene Nadler, delivering a Long Island support group speech to parents of children with diverse sexual leanings.

 

Every pronouncement of her appreciation for and acceptance of her children's differences is tinged with expressions to the contrary.  "I love my son for what he is," she avows, followed by "but for what I spent on hormones, I could have had a new kitchen."   Kauffman is wonderful, for her comic timing is as finely honed as her ability to turn superficial into sympathetic.  

 

Also wonderful is Greg Violand as the past-his-prime poster child for flamboyance, Mr. Charles, who was exiled from New York City for being too gay.

 

"Today's modern homosexuals find me an embarrassment," he laments, while wearing his magnificent datedness (complements of costume designer Jenniver Sparano) with defiant pride and with his young, stud-ly and enchantingly obtuse companion Shane at his side.  Violand takes risks that pay off; his showiness gives way to inner strength and genuine charm.

 

Steven J. West, as Shane, and Caitlin Lewins, as a young mother and admirer of Mr. Charles', come and go in this second vignette but their time on stage is delightful.  West's best moment finds him completely naked with nothing but a goofy grin and the endearing air of complete obliviousness.  

 

Molly McGinnis is featured in the next piece, where she plays Barbara Ellen Diggs of Decatur, Illinois, who lost her son to AIDS and, subsequently, has lost herself in a world of kitschy arts and crafts.  As with the previous scenes, this one delivers the laughs but it bears a bit more weight under the surface.  McGinnis is marvelous at handling both the inanity and the gravity of her character.

 

Rudnick's final playlet places all five characters in a Manhattan maternity ward that resides in the shadows of what used to be the World Trade Center.  Here, the play's silliness wades into significance.  The gang reflects on the world's intolerance and, with the sound of newborns in the background, hope for acceptance in the new century for the next generation.  God bless us, everyone.

 

No, it's not Dickens.  But when's the last time you saw a morality play with full-frontal nudity and left with an aching side and a smile?

 

The New Century continues through January 9 at the Dobama Theatre, 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights.  For tickets, which range from $10 to $25, call 216-932-3396 or visit www.dobama.org.
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