Burn This
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Cititour.com Review
Where’s the fire? A smoldering spark should develop, almost without warning, into a three-alarm conflagration by the end of “Burn This,” but there’s no need for a fire marshal – or even a bucket of water – to be on hand for Michael Mayer’s crowd-pleasing, ultra-comic revival of Lanford Wilson’s 1987 drama, now at the Hudson Theatre. The only thing that goes up in flames is an on-stage piece of paper that burns itself out quickly – which should be the same fate we imagine will befall the play’s protagonists, Pale (Adam Driver), a hot-tempered restaurant manager searching for a safe harbor after decades of disappointments and bad decisions, and Anna (Keri Russell), a dancer-turned-choreographer who must finally find the same passion in life as she does in art.
These two are unquestionably an “odd couple,” and Wilson undeniably possessed a wicked wit; yet, it can be a bit disconcerting to see this bittersweet play transformed into something Neil Simon might have penned. One suspects that Mayer may be covering up for the fact that his talented leads simply cannot simulate the kind of combustible chemistry that’s necessary for the play to work as written. Instead, he’s arrived at a second-best solution; one that guarantees a highly entertaining evening that nonetheless lacks the depth Wilson intended.
Pale – the much older brother of Anna’s recently deceased gay roommate and dancing partner, Robbie -- is one of the most explosive characters written for the stage, a sort of latter-day Stanley Kowalski. Driver expertly captures Pale’s sudden mood swings and outbursts of temper, his outer bravado and his barely-hidden inner pain. He’s a man who takes up all the oxygen in the room every time he enters Derek McLane’s perfectly imagined downtown loft.
But it’s equally important that Pale seems truly dangerous, even a bit insane. And while there’s little question the massively large Driver is physically threatening -- he can easily break anything or anyone he sees in two -- there’s the nagging suspicion from the get-go that he’s really a gentle giant, which shouldn’t really be unveiled until near the play’s end.
Anna is meant to be more of an enigma; it’s not until we learn late in the play from her other roommate and gay bff, Larry (a truly superb Brandon Uranowitz in the evening’s most memorable turn), that Anna “has had a very protected life; she’s never had to carry her own passport or plane tickets. She hasn’t had to make her way may much.”
And this description, late as it comes, is the key to understanding (and playing) Anna. She’s a woman so steeped in passivity she can’t decide what to eat for dinner (or whether to eat at all), how many dancers she should cast in her new piece, and, whether or not to marry – or even continue a relationship – with her boyfriend Burton, an extremely rich, entitled, handsome and somewhat dull screenwriter (beautifully embodied by David Furr). Most important, it explains why she initially gives in to Pale’s almost silent advances during their first encounter.
However, from Anna’s opening tirade about the indignities and pain she’s suffered at Robbie’s funeral, Russell (looking sensational in Clint Ramos’ leg-baring costumes) displays a fierce intelligence and commanding presence. As a result, her Anna has no room to really develop into the woman Wilson created, someone finally confident enough to accept both her artistic ambition and Pale’s affection. “I don’t want this… I didn’t want this,” Anna says at the very end, as she gives into Pale, body and soul. But here, the sentiment, like much of this problematic production, feels a bit hollow.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
https://burnthisplay.com
Cast
Adam Driver, Keri Russell, David Furr, Brandon Uranowitz
Open/Close Dates
Opening 4/16/2019
Closing 7/14/2019
Preview Open/ Preview Close Dates
Preview Opening 3/15/2019
Closing Open-ended
Box Office
855-801-5876
Theatre Info
Hudson Theatre
139-141 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
Map
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