at the Flea Theater
The final line of Post Mortem, "Maybe we have talked enough," is all too appropriate. After an amusing and promising first scene, A.R. Gurney's antic, intermissionless metacomedy at the Flea Theater descends into pedantic hell.
Gurney sets the play in an Orwellian future, specifically in a faith-based university that has implanted listening devices in the ceiling. Dexter wants his drama teacher, Alice, to be not only his thesis advisor but also his lover. Dexter's topic is, of all people, A.R. Gurney, whose bio appears in one of Alice's reference books, Minor Figures in American Drama, where he's described as having been a writer of middle-class comedies. But Dexter has discovered a forgotten Gurney play titled Post Mortem that could vaunt the author onto a more serious plane.
Scene 2 is an interview with the now-married Alice and Dexter. Under the couple's tutelage, Post Mortem has become a worldwide success, liberalizing the country. We get a taste of its content, which excoriates Bush, Cheney, name-changed playhouses, and British directors, among others.
Gurney is obviously making his own bid to be considered a committed political playwright. And he's getting a lot of anger off his chest. But the second scene, which starts with a painfully long harangue about cell phones, doesn't cut it. Rejecting his own dictum that "good drama is expectations fulfilled," Gurney jettisons tension and action in favor of familiar jibes, although there are still glimmers of his wit.
Jim Simpson directs as fluidly as possible. Tina Benko is a joy, suggesting Alice's banked fires from the beginning. Her progression from perfectly coiffed teacher to hair-down freedom fighter is disarming. Christopher Kromer clarifies, with considerable charm, Dexter's journey from eager youth to responsible citizen. As Betsy, the interviewer, Shannon Burkett is a game puppy, eager and wide-eyed.
But even dedicated Gurney lovers and Cheney haters will be disappointed.
> Presented by and at the Flea Theater,
41 White St., NYC.
> Nov. 2–Dec. 9. Wed.–Sat., 7 p.m.; Sat., 3 p.m.
> (212) 352-3101 or www.theatermania.com.
> Casting by Calleri Casting.
Reviewed by David A. Rosenberg