Photo Source: Joan Marcus
Braff goes for shock value at the play's opening as Emma (Krysten Ritter), an expat from England and a down-on-her-luck real estate agent, finds that a vacation house (realized as a sleek two-level glass-backed interior by set designer Alexander Dodge) on New Jersey's Long Beach Island that she's intending to prep for a couple of potential renters isn't vacant. Charlie (Justin Bartha) has taken over the place, hoping for some peace, quiet, and complete midwinter solitude. Before long, they're joined by Myron (David Wilson Barnes), the local fire chief, who's carrying a torch for Emma, and Kim (Anna Camp), an escort whom a friend of Charlie's has sent to the house.
Try though he might, Charlie can't get rid of his unwanted guests, who all believe themselves duty-bound to cheer him up and who in the process create a party atmosphere, swilling liquor and ordering in cocaine and nitrous oxide (Myron also happens to be the island drug dealer). Much like Andrew, the hapless hero of Braff's award-winning film "Garden State," all Charlie can do is watch, slowly finding himself sucked in.
It's a cute conceit and could make the basis for an amiable enough play. But Braff inexorably weighs the show down with dark backstories for the characters, which are awkwardly revealed in video flashbacks. (Projection designer Aaron Rhyne has expertly crafted these sequences, which feature grand cameos from Kevin Conway, Tony Goldwyn, and S. Epatha Merkerson.) Even more cumbersome—and implausible—is the way in which Emma and Myron turn on one another to reveal their histories to Charlie and Kim.
To their credit, director Peter DuBois and the ensemble traverse the show's vagaries with aplomb, serving up Braff's sitcom-inspired jokes with precision and making the most of asides, which in their obliqueness are funnier than the easy gags. And even when the script hits its bleakest points or awkwardly turns to the characters' spiritual beliefs (or lack thereof), there is a buoyancy to the production.
The most successful turn comes from Ritter, who gives Emma a drug-induced spikiness and unpredictability from her first entrance. As the play continues, her work becomes increasingly bold, yet even as this happens she reveals a certain vulnerability in the character. Similarly, Barnes brings a keen intelligence to his performance as the man who one-sidedly loves her, crafting a character who is an intriguing cipher rather than merely a one-dimensional suburban slacker.
There's no such depth to Kim, either in the script or in Camp's performance, but vivacious vapidity is all that's really called for with this role, and the actor delivers superbly. In fact, one of the most hilarious moments comes when Kim misunderstands the word "sortie" as "sorority."
At the center of the production is Bartha's winning turn as the sad sack, an increasingly frustrated and frantic Charlie. Like his castmates, Bartha brings a sure comic timing to the show. But more impressive is how he fills the character's silences with a sense of humor that's mixed with keen and haunted desperation.
That Braff has aimed for both of these qualities throughout the work should be applauded, and it ought to be interesting to see what his next piece for the stage might be.
Presented by and at Second Stage Theatre, 305 W. 43rd St., NYC. July 25–Aug. 14. Tue., 7 p.m.; Wed.–Sat., 8 p.m.; Wed. and Sat., 2 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. (Additional performance Mon., Aug. 1, 8 p.m.; Tue.–Fri., July 26–29, evening performances are at 7 p.m.) (212) 246-4422, (800) 766-6048, or www.2st.com. Casting by MelCap Casting.
