The Other Thing
Tickets from $25 Buy Tickets
Cititour.com Review
For over a dozen years, Samantha Soule has been one of New York’s most in-demand actresses, whether or not you know her name or even recognize her from show to show, as she slips from period dramas to frothy comedies to contemporary fare with equal aplomb. If any role might be destined to make her a “star,” it’s her current gig as Kim in Emily Schwend’s quiet horror-play “The Other Thing,” now at the McGinn-Cazale as part of the annual Second Stage Uptown series. While Schwend’s two-acter is admittedly both overwritten and underdeveloped, Soule makes a full-course meal of what she’s been given.
If you don’t want or need to know more, stop here, as “The Other Thing” is one of those works that relies on a shocking mid-show revelation to be intelligently discussed. Ok, now here goes. When we first meet Kim, she’s a seemingly polite journalist interviewing Carl (“Gotham” star John Doman), an older backwoods Virginia man who has become a “ghost hunter” after his divorce, dragging along his sullen 30something son Brady (an effective James Kautz) on his missions. Carl is a bit of a braggart and blowhard, and Kim – whom we rather quickly sense has more than professional reasons for writing this story about the paranormal – almost bends over backwards to be respectful.
Until she snaps – after a visit from her late mother, who possesses her at select moments and transforms Kim into a no-nonsense, aggressive woman who refuses to take any guff from men who are trying to demean, scare, or even placate her. Morover, Kim is aware that she can change personalities at any minute, so she tries desperately to break up for good with longtime boyfriend Thomas (the fine Bhavesh Patel) before he becomes another one of “Mama”’s victims.
Since the plot isn’t that different from many Hollywood B movies, and director Lucie Tiberghien’s simple production lacks any of Tinseltown’s special effects, it’s all up to Soule to make this piece work. And with just a change of voice and demeanor, this ultra-talented actress gives complete life to Kim and her murderous alter ego, becoming truly terrifying one moment -- and truly terrified after the possession ends and she realizes what’s happened.
As for me, I was really really nice to the waitress at the diner I went to after the show.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://2st.com/shows/current-production/the-other-thing
Cast
John Doman, James Kautz, Bhavesh Patel, Samantha Soule
Open/Close Dates
Opening 5/21/2015
Closing 6/7/2015
Theatre Info
McGinn/Cazale Theatre
2162 Broadway (at 76th Street)
New York, NY 10024
Map
Comments
Sign up for our newsletter !