If I Forget
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Cititour.com Review
There are layers upon layers of plot, themes, and revelations in Steven Levenson’s new play, “If I Forget,” now being given an immaculately acted production by Tony winner Daniel Sullivan at the Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre. Even the title of this work, by the now-celebrated librettist of “Dear Evan Hansen,” is multi-faceted: referring to individual memory, collective memory, cultural heritage and, most notably, the Holocaust.
Indeed, if the play occasionally feels overstuffed, and even slightly derivative (Levenson owes a debt of sorts to Tracy Letts), it also manages to be incredibly thoughtful and thought-provoking, hilarious and sad, and highly personal and highly political (so much so that the audience actually applauded at some speeches) -- all of which are qualities to be highly prized right now in the theater.
The play is split neatly into two acts, the first in July 2000 and the second in February, 2011 – two time periods that eerily resemble today in terms of the political climate. The first act is set around the 75th birthday party of recently widowed Lou Fischer (the great Larry Bryggman, making the most of surprisingly little stage time); the second is set a week after Lou has had a devastating stroke, when family decisions must be made about his long-term care.
On hand for both occasions are his three children, the self-centered, well-off Holly (a spectacularly on-the-nose Kate Walsh), Michael (the always incredible Jeremy Shamos), a sanctimonious intellectual who is both a professor of Jewish Studies and the author of a forthcoming book that attacks how American Jews look at Israel and the Holocaust, and Sharon (a stunning Maria Dizzia), a schoolteacher who is all-too-willing to play the family martyr and, who, like many youngest children, is a little too removed from the practicalities of life.
The guests also include Michael’s sweet-natured wife Ellen (the excellent Tasha Lawrence), a non-Jewish social worker who finds herself essentially helpless to help settle importantly family differences, as well as Holly’s lawyer husband Howard (a fine Gary Wilmes), who ultimately reveals himself to be more complex than he seems. So does Holly’s unhappy teenage son Joey (a superb Seth Steinberg) who transforms from caricature to character very late in the play. Absent physically, but very much present, is Michael and Ellen’s college-aged daughter Abby, whose mental troubles escalate after an ill-considered visit to Israel.
There can be little question that Jews are Levenson’s target audience –most of whom have probably already grappled with some of the play’s hot-button issues, as to voting for a presidential candidate because of his (or her) stance on Israel, the two-state solution in Israel, and the effect of the Holocaust on one’s belief system. (Bryggman’s speech about how he helped liberate Dachau is absolutely shattering!)
Smartly, though, the work speaks just as much to parents, especially those who wonder how to handle their children today and what legacy they will leave them in the future; to baby boomers now dealing with the failing health and deaths of their own parents; and anyone with siblings, who will be incredibly impressed by how well-delineated the triangular relationship among Holly, Michael and Sharon is, as well as how predictably (for better and worse) it plays out.
Meanwhile, with a crowded theatrical calendar over the next two months, “If I Forget” could become forgotten during the upcoming awards season. But let’s hope not – especially because this extraordinary ensemble deserves not to fade from memory.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/Shows-Events/If-I-Forget.aspx
Cast
Larry Bryggman, Maria Dizzia, Tasha Lawrence, Jeremy Shamos, Seth Steinberg, Kate Walsh, Gary Wilmes
Open/Close Dates
Opening 2/22/2017
Closing 4/30/2017
Preview Open/ Preview Close Dates
Preview Opening 2/2/2017
Closing Open-ended
Box Office
212-719-1300
Theatre Info
Laura Pels Theatre
111 West 46th Street
New York, NY 10036
Map
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