Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes
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Cititour.com Review
Forget the knife-like talons that have helped make Hugh Jackman an international film superstar; the actor’s strongest “weapon” is his natural charm, which is on display throughout all 85 minutes of Hannah Moscovitch’s absorbing “Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes,” now at the Minetta Lane Theatre as the initial offering of the Audible & Together production team.
Here, far from the “X-Men” universe, Jackman plays recently separated college professor and celebrated author Jon Macklem, who uses his everyman appeal (not to mention his handsome face and fit figure) to slyly seduce both the audience as well as his 19-year-old student Annie (an extremely good Ella Beatty, smartly navigating what appears to be the character’s initially passive nature).
Annie, a standout from the crowd in her bright red coat (provided by costume designer Asta Bennie Hostetter) not only sits adoringly in the first row of his classroom but lives alone across the street from Macklem. That proximity makes it easy for her to deliberately get more of Macklem’s attention, whether by walking over while he’s mowing his lawn (supposedly to compliment him on his writing) or to display her scratched arm after she breaks a window trying to get into her home after locking herself out, allowing Macklem to come to her (first) aid.
Or at least that Macklem’s story, Moscovitch has the entire play narrated by Macklem, who presents his life – or his version of his life – directly to the audience, deliberately breaking the so-called fourth wall repeatedly (and sometimes spontaneously) and thereby further endearing us to him.
Moreover, Macklem appears to be super-honest about his personal failings, such as his three failed marriages, as well as his professional doubts, specifically about his newest novel-in progress about lumberjacks at the turn of the century. He is even upfront with his misgivings that sleeping with a 19-year-old student, no matter how eager she seems for this physical connection, is unethical and unprofessional. There’s even something unusually human about how Macklem liberally uses four-letter words without censoring himself.
Further, Jackman is so disarming that it even makes sense when Macklem suddenly takes Annie to a sleazy hotel – and that Macklem is so willing to leave it the minute Annie objects to the less-than-ideal surroundings. (The Minetta Lane’s wide stage, cleverly dotted with furniture here and there, provided by set designers Christine Jones and Brett J. Banakis, is very well utilized by director Ian Rickson.)
Given everything Moscovitch presents, is there really any reason for us to think Macklem isn’t recounting his and Annie’s history exactly as it happened? One’s skepticism, of course, may be aroused by personal experience, or the fact that Macklem and Annie’s affair happens in 2014, long before the specter of the #MeToo movement led women to tell their side of the often-sordid stories that are part of their past. (The show actually ends close to the present day,)
Despite its title, I’m not convinced Moscovitch has much to say about the “middle class” or its specific morality, but she has definitely provided audiences with a more than middlebrow play and an above-average vehicle for two very talented actors.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
https://audiblexminetta.com/
Open/Close Dates
Opening 5/8/2025
Closing Open-ended
Theatre Info
Minetta Lane Theatre
18 Minetta Lane
New York, NY 10012
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