The Country House
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Cititour.com Review
Theatrical recipes, much like the ones used in cooking, can be tricky to execute. It’s not just question of using the right ingredients, but measuring them properly and constantly playing with proportions. In fact, I wish the brilliant Donald Margulies had done another taste test on “The Country House,” his often entertaining if not wholly satisfying new play, now at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (after a summer premiere in L.A.).
Sadly, there’s just a little too much faux-Chekhov here for the play’s own good, and when Margulies finally adds his own dose of worldly wisdom, it adds a slightly bitter flavor to the often dark-comic proceedings. Fortunately, the ace director Daniel Sullivan and his pitch-perfect cast do their utmost to turn this beef stew into beef bourguignon.
The show’s titular house is located in Williamstown, Massachusetts (lovingly designed by John Lee Beatty), and owned by one of that theater town’s longtime goddesses, the slightly vain, self-absorbed Anna Patterson (brought exquisitely to full-bodied life by the great Blythe Danner, one of the brightest stars in the real Williamstown firmament). To honor the first anniversary of the death of her beloved daughter, Cathy, she’s gathered Cathy’s husband, hot-shot Hollywood director Walter Keegan (a spot-on David Rasche), their super-sassy yet deeply sad teenaged daughter Susie (the superb Sarah Steele), and Anna’s mopey, drug-and-booze-addicted son Elliot (the extraordinary Eric Lange, who should be remembered at Tony time for his no-holds-barred performance), who hasn’t recovered from his sister’s untimely demise and who can’t come to terms with his basic lack of talent.
Rather problematically, this familial quartet has been expanded to a sextet. Unwisely, Walter has brought along his new fiancée, Nell (a sweet Kate Jennings Grant), a younger, lesser-known actress whom Susie immediately resents and whom Eric knew years ago and still carries a torch for. Meanwhile, Anna has, on the spur-of-the-moment, invited an “overnight guest”: longtime family friend and fellow actor Michael Astor (a perfectly cast Daniel Sunjata), a super-handsome, slightly self-important TV star whose presence in the house has all of the women taking momentary leave of their senses.
In addition to the large number of funny yet distracting in-jokes about theater and film that Margulies has peppered into the script, the Chekhovian references (for those who get them) begin to feel overwhelming. Is Anna really Arkadina and Michael supposed to be Trigorin? Is Nell meant to be a second-rate Yelena? And there can be no question that Elliot is a stand-in for Konstantin (with a bit of Vanya thrown in for good measure), especially when he enlists the whole household to read a scathing play he wrote and which Anna immediately dismisses.
For the first five scenes of the play, though, Margulies does manage to merge comedy and drama with aplomb, before creating a final scene with Anna, Elliot and Susie that is meant to be bittersweet and ultimately hopeful. Unfortunately, it comes off as almost maudlin, not to mention slightly unearned. Moreover, the tonal switch is just too sharp as it seemingly belongs in a different (and possibly better) play.
Still, for all its shortcomings, “The Country House” is definitely worth a visit by audiences looking for intelligent and involving fare. It’s just not a place where one wants to dwell for too long.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://thecountryhousebway.com
Cast
Blythe Danner, Kate Jennings Grant, Eric Lange, David Rasche, Sarah Steele, Daniel Sunjata
Open/Close Dates
Opening 10/2/2014
Closing 11/23/2014
Preview Open/ Preview Close Dates
Preview Opening 9/9/2014
Closing Open-ended
Box Office
212-239-6200
Theatre Info
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street
New York, NY 10036
Map
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