A Delicate Ship
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Cititour.com Review
Even if you failed geometry, and can’t tell a hypotenuse from a hippopotamus, you probably know something about triangles. After all, they form the basis for some of the world’s greatest pieces of literature and theatre, from “Anna Karenina” to “Betrayal.” So, upon hearing that Anna Ziegler’s “A Delicate Ship,” now being presented by the Playwrights Realm at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, concerned another triangle, I had to stifle a yawn. And then I went, and not only didn’t I yawn once during its 75 minutes, I was completely mesmerized.
Credit for my undivided attention belongs to five outstanding people. First is Ziegler (whose “Photograph 51” will soon open in London starring Nicole Kidman), who has a rare gift for writing both poetically and plainly, so that her characters manage to speak eloquently yet speak like real people and not just dramatis personae. The second is director Margot Bordelon, who moves her three-person-cast smartly around Reid Thompson’s deceptively simple apartment set, so the piece never feels static. That’s a bit of a challenge, since it’s mostly set in real time on what turns out to be a particular joyous Christmas Eve. (That said, the characters frequently break the fourth wall to tell us that this is a memory play, and to share their viewpoints on the action, as well as give us glimpses of their past and future).
Of course, most of the credit belongs to the actors, starting with the magnificent Nick Westrate as Nate, the ultimate lost boy, who shows up at the doorstep of his oldest childhood friend Sarah (Miriam Silverman). He’s unaware that she’s in the middle of a date with new beau Sam (Matt Dellapina), and it quickly becomes apparent he doesn’t care. Nate, as we come to see, believes that he practically possesses Sarah, something of a lost girl herself, and that she is not just his soulmate, but his territory. Westrate, who has shone primarily playing gay, gentler roles in such works as “Casa Valentina” and “The Boys in the Band,” is not only thoroughly convincing as a straight man, he is often terrifying – as well as pitiable and pathetic in every sense of the word.
Silverman’s Sarah is not your usual object of desire – she’s pretty, not gorgeous, and has her own issues -- but the actress transforms her into someone you understand a man might die for. And Dellapina does yeoman’s work as Sam, who teeters between unearned superiority and unnecessary inferiority, and who, above all, is the victim of a situation he is clearly unprepared to handle.
“A Delicate Ship” navigates tricky if familiar waters, and does so with remarkable finesse and grace.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://www.playwrightsrealm.org/a-delicate-ship-2
Cast
Matthew Dellapina, Miriam Silverman, Nick Westrate
Open/Close Dates
Opening 8/27/2015
Closing 9/12/2015
Theatre Info
Peter Jay Sharp Theater
416 W 42nd St.
New York, NY 10036
Map
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