Phoenix
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Cititour.com Review
It’s sadly appropriate that Scott Organ’s play, “Phoenix,” now getting a new production at the Cherry Lane Theatre, is named after the dull city in Arizona rather than the mythical bird of yore. Despite the presence of two highly likable and talented actors, film and stage star Julia Stiles and the lesser-known James Wirt, this 80-minute, two-hander never rises from the ashes of Organ’s pseudo-David Mamet dialogue to develop into something meaningful, or even shocking. (I kept hoping for a twist of Neil LaBute or even Harold Pinter). Audiences who take this journey will instead have to settle for a few clever one-liners, a brief scene involving Wirt’s naked torso, and an ending that is just short of utterly predictable.
To his credit, Organ’s premise is mildly interesting. We meet Sue (Stiles) and Bruce (Wirt) for four weeks after a one-night stand, and their first meeting since the romp in the hay. After a lot of stilted yammering, Sue finally blurts out that she’s pregnant – a totally unexpected development since the couple used protection and Bruce had been told he was incapable of reproducing – and planning an abortion. She also never wants to see Bruce again, a condition he initially agrees to but later reneges on, in a rather grandiose fashion.
The actors clearly have some strong chemistry, which makes you almost root for a traditional happy ending, but Organ never really tells us enough about them for the stakes to matter. Sue, we discover, is a nurse who travels to different cities (or countries) and clearly has a fear of any sort of commitment. Stiles brings her now-patented brand of intelligence and disdain to the role, which helps make some of her actions more believable than they might be on the page.
For his part, Bruce is apparently employed (he talks about a paid vacation), talks a lot, is fairly charming in an off-beat way, and looks good in (and out of) a variety of fitted t-shirts. Despite his character being an enigma, Wirt is good company – so much so that it’s hard to believe one premise of the show (which is that he hasn’t sex in years).
Jennifer DeLia’s direction does little to help matters, and she pads out the evening by having the actors constantly rotate the platform stage (by Catie Hevner Kemp) and engage in pointless bits of stage business. In fact, the show could be cut even further, and might then make a decent addition to “Summer Shorts” or an anthology evening, rather than be the main attraction.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://www.phoenixtheplay.com
Cast
Julia Stiles, James Wirt
Open/Close Dates
Opening 7/28/2014
Closing 8/28/2014
Box Office
866-811-4111.
Theatre Info
Cherry Lane Theatre
38 Commerce Street
New York, NY 10014
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