The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin
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Cititour.com Review
Sixteen years ago, David Morse pulled off one of the greatest acting feats I’ve ever seen by creating actual empathy for the pedophile Uncle Peck in Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive. That particular talent comes to the forefront once more in Steven Levenson’s compelling new drama, The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin, now at the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Laura Pels Theatre.
Without unnaturally softening his performance, the veteran actor nonetheless forces us to care, at least somewhat, about the title character: an unscrupulous lawyer just released from jail five years after swindling his friends and family out of their money -- and desperate to win back the affection of his son James (Christopher Denham) and ex-wife Karen (Lisa Emery). As the work develops, it becomes increasingly clear that Tom has convinced himself he is the victim, despite his criminal behavior, and honestly can’t understand why no one shares in his delusion.
A man who is clearly used to getting what he wants, Tom reappears without warning on James’ doorstep and quickly talks his son into letting him move in, playing on the loneliness of his offspring, who is stuck in a job he hates selling medical equipment and divorced from his wife. Tom not only continues to manipulate James, but forces his weak-willed son-in-law Chris (an excellent Rich Sommer) to reveal his ex-wife’s whereabouts. However, when he finally does finagle a meeting with Karen – and the one scene between the brilliant Emery and Morse is explosive – she refuses to reconcile, which proves to be a harsh awakening.
Levenson does such a fine job of capturing this particularly dysfunctional dynamic, one wishes he spent a bit less of the 100-minute intermissionless work on the burgeoning romance between James and Katie (the endearing Sarah Goldberg), a kooky, equally unhappy young woman he meets in a short story class. The subplot is meant to give another dimension to the downtrodden James, as well as provide a vehicle for some necessary exposition, but the payoff isn’t worth all the effort.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/Shows-Events/The-Unavoidable-Disappearance-of-Tom-Durnin.aspx
Cast
Christopher Denham, Lisa Emery, Sarah Goldberg, David Morse, Rich Sommer
Open/Close Dates
Opening 6/27/2013
Closing 8/25/2013
Theatre Info
Laura Pels Theatre
111 West 46th Street
New York, NY 10036
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