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A CurtainUp Review
RX
By Elyse Sommer
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I think your heart is the eighth wonder of the world. I think your heart is like that record-breaking tower they're building in Dubai that's going to be 2,000 feet tall and have the world's fastest elevator and look like a shining silver spiral reaching up into the sky. — Meena to Phil
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Marin Hinkle and Stephen Kunken
(Photo: James Leynes) |
After two decidedly serious plays — Hannah and Martin, a trenchant drama about two historical figures from the Nazi era, Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger, Kate Fodor successfully tackled the heavy duty subject of faith with 100 Saints You Should Know. With RX she proves that she can make you laugh and root for a man and woman clearly meant to end up living meaningfully as well as happily ever after.
With Ethan McSweeny, who also directed 100 Saints You Should Know, at the helm the twenty-four brief scenes play out without a letup in the pace. The plot is set in motion in the sterile almost prison-like office of Meena Pierotti (Marin Hinkle), managing editor of a trade publication called Piggeries. Cattle and Swine Magazine. Meena's appearance and manner exude uncertainty and a lack of buoyancy. In fact she's so miserable that she often feels compelled to leave the office for a crying session in the old ladies' lingerie section of a nearby department store.
Since Meena is actively trying to do something about her downbeat state of mind, which accounts for our first meeting with her involving an interview by Doctor Phil Gray (Stephen Kunken) a high paid researcher at Schmidt Pharma, a Midwestern firm with the mission of developing feel-good drugs for those who can afford to buy them. Gray has come to Meena's office to assess her acceptability to be part of a group testing a new drug intended to cure workplace depression.
Gray obviously finds Meena depressed enough to admit her to his study. And so, its on to bi-weekly sessions with Doctor Phil and, yes, the stirrings of romantic feelings. The mutual attraction escalates from a nervous simmer to a boil. Fodor peppers her plot with plenty of detours and bumps to keep things bubbling.
To enliven those detours and bumps, there are five other characters: Phil's boss Allison Hardy (Elizabeth Rich), who loves her job, especially getting up to present Schmidt Pharma's latest research venture. . . Simon (Michael Bakkensen), Meena's boss . . . Frances (Marylouise Burke) a widow Meena meets during one of her crying ags amid the strung up panties in the department store. . .Richard (Paul Niebanck) a marketing executive and Ed (Paul Niebanck, again), another quite nutty Schmidt Pharma researcher.
For this sort of romantic farce to maintain its comic momentum, to land its satirical barbs and at the same time give it the heart to be touching as well as funny, requires actors with spot-on timing and great versatility. This cast delivers on both counts, and then some.
Neither Marin Hinkle or Stephen Kunken are superstars with instant name recognition, but both are fine, seasoned actors. Hinkle, who in recent years has become best known for her role in TV's Two and a Half Men, first impresed me with her stage chops during Curtainup's infancy, most especially so in Ibsen's Miss Julie . As Meena she is at once hilarious and touchingly vulnerable. Stephen Kunken has been a more regular presence on and off Broadway. However, I've never thought of him as a romantic lead so his lovelorn scientist is a delightful revelation.
While RX pivots around Hinkle and Kunken as the will they or won't they end up in a clinch leads, this production owes much to the ensemble. The role of the droll widow whose life is symbolized by her not treating herself to even a new set of panties, seems written to order for Marylouise Burke who's become the go-to actor for quirky, older characters. As she did in Fuddy Meers and Kimberly Akimbo, Burke invests Frances with droll poignancy, though the cautionary aspects of her role are the only elements of this play that' seem a bit overdone. As Allison, Schmidt Pharma's happiest camper, Elizabeth Rich is hilarious. It's a performance that lives up to her surname. Michael Bakkensen makes the most of the relatively minor role of Meena's boss. Paul Niebanck so ably navigates from enthusiastic marketing executive to discombobulated researcher that if you didn't see the cast listing, you'd swear you were watching two different actors.
Besides eliciting fine work from the actors, McSweeny has taken full advantage of his designers' talents. Lee Savage's initially spartan looking is full of surprises, often made even more surprising and apt by Matthwew Richards' lighting. Costume designer Andrea Lauer has provided Elizabeth Rich's Alison with costumes that personify corporate chic. Her outfits for Marin Hinkle nicely underscore her mood shifts.
In the final analysis, RX will no more keep people from buying into all those ads plugging cures for serious and imagined ailments. It also won't cause batallions of people in dull but lucrative jobs to quit and devote themselves to more caring and creative careers. But it's nice to believe, if only for an hour and a half, that love and a good heart are still the best feel-good medicine of all.
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Rx by Kate Fodor Directed by Ethan McSweeny Cast: Michael Bakkensen (Simon), Marylouise Burke (Frances), Marin Hinkle (Meena Pierotti), Stephen Kunken (Phil Gray), Paul Niebanck (Richard/Ed), Elizabeth Rich (Allison) Set design by Lee Savage Costume design by Andrea Lauer Lighting design by Matthew Richards Original music and sound design by Lindsay Jones Prop supervision by Faye Armon Stage Manager: Jennifer Rae Moore Running Time: Approximately 95 minutes, without intermission 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues Tuesday-Thursday at 7:00pm, Friday at 8:00pm, Saturday at 2:00pm & 8:00pm. There will be an additional Sunday matinee at 3:00 pm on February 12 and a special Wednesday matinee at 2:00pm on February 15. From 1/24/12; opening 2/07/12; closing 3/03/12 Reviewed by Elyse Sommer at February 3rd press preview |
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