Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties
Tickets from $49 Buy Tickets
Cititour.com Review
Here are a few of the collective (or perhaps merely individual) reactions audience members can expect to feel while watching Jen Silverman’s provocative, intentionally messy “Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties,” now being presented by MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre: laughter, surprise (in part due to Dane Laffrey’s very clever set design), and, perhaps, shock (as no playwright has been so obsessed with a women’s nether regions since Eve Ensler).
Most likely, there may be some confusion about what Silverman is really trying to say about women in this intriguing, often absurdist piece. Yes, she’s definitely asking us to think about gender norms, female empowerment, and the nature of friendship – all worthy subjects for a play. And what about rage? Well, all the women do exhibit anger – at the world, at the men and women in their lives, at their own limitations -- but they only occasionally explode with any significant force.
However, since the show is presented as a series of short, interconnected scenes, it never feels completely coherent. Nor is it sometimes even believable, as it rather randomly throws together five women (all named Betty) from very different walks of life to make its points. While I admit it would have made the work more conventional, I believe a sharper focus on just one or two of these characters might have made for an easier-to-digest play.
Still, no matter what one thinks about these goings-on, what should be unanimous is one’s admiration for the five talented, often brave actresses who dive body and soul into these sometime murky waters. Among the more familiar faces are Dana Delany, who uses her regal beauty and movie-star presence to flesh out Betty #1, even though the character is a bit of a cliché -- the bored, unhappy and angry rich Upper East Side housewife, and Lea DeLaria, who relies primarily on her butch persona as Betty #4, a prototypical lesbian obsessed equally with her truck and best friend (Betty #3,) but who beautifully shows the character’s softer more vulnerable side when called upon.
Meanwhile, the stunning Ana Villafane – who starred to great acclaim as Gloria Estefan in Broadway’s “On Your Feet” – almost literally lights up the stage as Betty #3, a super-sassy lesbian who –after her first encounter with the theater – gives up her longtime job at Sephora to pursue a life of fame, fortune and art as a would-be director, playwright, and YouTube celebrity. Even when the character seems to drift into caricature, Villafane is consistently delightful and committed.
Chaunte Wayans knocks us out as Betty #5, a masculine-looking lesbian who runs a boxing gym, exhibits hidden sensitivity and who strikes up a decidedly surprising relationship with Betty #1, and Adina Verson practically steals the evening as the repressed and depressed Betty #2, whose character undergoes the sharpest inner and outer transformations by the end of these 90 minutes.
As for your own rage; some of you may leave angry at how far we have (or haven’t) come in terms of women’s or gay rights; while, I suspect, others might feel upset at having spent time and money on this particular work.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
https://mcctheater.org/shows/18-19_season/collective-rage/index.html
Cast
Dana Delany, Lea DeLaria, Adina Verson, Ana Villafañe, Chaunté Wayans
Open/Close Dates
Opening 8/15/2018
Closing 10/7/2018
Box Office
866-811-4111
Theatre Info
Lucille Lortel Theatre
121 Christopher Street
New York, NY 10014
Map
Comments
Sign up for our newsletter !