Fire in Dreamland
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Cititour.com Review
It not altogether surprising that in “Fire in Dreamland,” Rinne Groff’s alternately haunting and banal new play at the Public Theater, the main character’s dream of a new life is just as quickly and horribly extinguished as the Coney Island amusement park that was destroyed in 1911 and which serves as the work’s rather heavy-handed metaphor. Still, the play’s central disappointment is how neatly the two stories often parallel each other.
When we first meet Kate (the superb musical theater actress Rebecca Naomi Jones, giving a wonderfully fiery performance in a non-singing role), she’s crying on a pier near her home in Coney Island, just months after Superstorm Sandy has destroyed the area. Again, Groff immediately deals in metaphor as Kate’s life is immediately revealed to be in the same sort of shambles as her home base; she’s on her third unsatisfying career (as some sort of government-sponsored community liaison) and still mourning the death of her long-dead father.
These circumstances make her particularly vulnerable to the advances of the highly passionate and devastatingly sexy Jaap (an excellent Enver Gokaj), a foreign film student who seduces her –orally –with his vision for a movie based on that 1911 tragedy. Soon enough, Kate has jumped into the front seat of Jaap’s roller-coaster (albeit without a seat belt), forfeiting job, credit card balances and common sense to become his partner in cinema-making, seemingly unaware of the many danger signs that should be visible in red. He’s not just a classic dreamer; he’s a narcissist, a liar, and con man -- a reality Kate to which only really awakens when confronted by the almost shockingly naïve film student Lance (a fine Kyle Beltran), who has also been taken for an equally bumpy ride by Jaap.
In some ways, though, when these two characters come together to face their futures – a plot twist that isn’t completely believable – the play actually gains some depth, as we watch both of them find enough inner strength to actually take control of their destinies. It’s particularly gratifying to see Jones’ Kate retreat from victimhood (without turning into a vigilante), and the actress’ superior work in the later sections of the work are particularly satisfying to behold.
Like many plays, “Fire in Dreamland” might benefit from a more expansive production than the one provided here, although director Marisa Wolf does guide her three-person cast to authentic performances, and makes good use of Susan Hilferty’s clever, minimalist set. (The Tony Award-winning designer, best known for her costumes, also provides a couple of dynamite outfits for Jones.) And Groff deserves bonus points for providing audiences with a history lesson about a particularly horrible moment in our city’s past that I suspect most of us were unaware ever took place.
Still, there’s not nearly enough sizzle here to make “Fire in Dreamland” a particularly satisfying excursion.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
https://www.publictheater.org/Public-Theater-Season/Fire-in-Dreamland
Cast
Kyle Beltran, Enver Gjokaj, Rebecca Naomi Jones
Open/Close Dates
Opening 6/19/2018
Closing 8/5/2018
Box Office
212-967-7555
Theatre Info
Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10003
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