The True
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Summary
Here are a few things that are unquestionably true about Sharr White’s “The True,” now being given a sharp-edged production by the New Group at the Pershing Square Signature Center under Scott Elliot’s direction. All of its characters, members of the Democratic party in Albany in 1977, were real people, caught up in a surprisingly controversial election that threatened to reshape the city’s future. As he proved in “The Other Place, White can create an involving story and crackling dialogue that, like the right color paint, can cleverly hide the flaws beneath the surface. And the New Group’s secret weapon, Derek McLane, continues to prove he’s a true master of set design, no matter the circumstances or time period.
And truest above all is that the great Edie Falco is ideal casting for the play’s central character, Polly Noonan, a foul-mouthed, fiercely loyal confidante to longtime mayor Erastus Corning. As she has long shown on stage and television, Falco can effortlessly project fire and ice, sometimes both within seconds, and never fails to find the hidden layers of the flawed women she’s asked to play. Here, she delivers the kind of riveting, tour-de-force performance that basically makes “The True” worth the price of your ticket.
Alas, here’s what also true about “The True.” White didn’t bother to interview anyone still alive who was around in 1977 or any of his characters’ relatives – even Noonan’s granddaughter, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Instead, he’s created a seeming docudrama out of practically whole cloth, allowing him great dramatic license but forcing us to wonder how much of what we hear is accurate when it comes to Noonan and her relationships with various men.
The play’s focus is primarily on her decades-long friendship with Corning (a somewhat subdued Michael McKean), long rumored to be her lover and even possible father of her children. However, many of the play’s scenes also involve her adoring yet suffering husband Peter (a fantastic Peter Scolari; in fact, he and Falco should consider reviving “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?). Plus, there are also riveting one-on-ones with handsome, self-assured mayoral candidate Howard Nolan (a silky smooth Glenn Fitzgerald) and crude would-be party boss Charlie Ryan (a formidable John Pankow), along with a rather comic episode when she and Peter host the naïve Bill McCormick (a nicely callow Austin Caldwell), a young man Polly has chosen (in error) to groom for political greatness.
The work’s episodic structure, while initially effective, begins to feel a bit schematic long before the 105-minute conclusion: Polly shoots from the hip, she threatens and cajoles, she mostly scores. Admittedly, a next-to-final scene where Polly finally lets down her guard with Erasmus allows Falco to display some untapped vulnerability and warmth – another of the star’s trademarks – but it almost seems a tad out of character.
Most of all, the truth is if you start to think about “The True” hours or days later, you may well begin to wonder why White chose this particular subject. I don’t think it’s really the politics that fascinate him. He obviously has a point of view to espouse on the compromises and loyalty of marriage, and there’s a decided “#Metoo” gloss on the story, as Polly outwardly complains that her actions would be complimented and how there would be no suspicion about her motives if she wasn’t a woman. What she says is undeniably true!
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
https://www.thenewgroup.org/thetrue.html
Cast
Austin Cauldwell, Edie Falco, Glenn Fitzgerald, Michael McKean, John Pankow, Peter Scolari
Open/Close Dates
Opening 9/4/2018
Closing 10/28/2018
Box Office
212-279-4200
Theatre Info
Pershing Square Signature Center
480 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
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