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A CurtainUp Review
A Second Look at Craig Lucas's The Dying Gaul
By Les Gutman
A mishap last spring has produced a lagniappe this fall. On the eve of the opening of this new play by Craig Lucas, one of its stars, Cotter Smith, suffered a back injury. A replacement had to be substituted and the opening had to be postponed. When it finally opened (to generally strong reviews, including at least one calling it the best play of the year), there remained but a few performances before it had to close.
The good news is that Cotter Smith's back seems to have healed, and the Vineyard has had the good sense to sneak the original cast back into its theatre for a few extra weeks. This affords CurtainUp a chance to take a second look at a production that remains the same but for Smith's re-entry. (Elyse Sommer's original review is linked below.)
Smith's role is Jeffrey, the film producer steeped in Hollywood's amorality. He succeeds splendidly in blending a sort of self-congratulatory bluster with a penchant for choreographed mendacity and a hint of vulnerability. In other words, he creates a role in which you can love his characterization even as you loathe his character.
In her original review, Elyse applauded the production even though she found the conclusion flawed. She also found some of the "online" interaction a bit "static." I second her applause, but have a slightly different take on her quibbles.
- I found the production spellbinding, a word I don't use often. I was intrigued by the way Lucas drew the audience in with a placid beginning (static, perhaps). Well written and funny, as well as impeccably staged and performed, there is little advance warning of the hairpin turns that convert what starts out seeming like a well-made potboiler into a stunning thriller.
- Elyse wrote cryptically of the play's "manufactured" and "out of character ending," and I won't be any more forthcoming about its substance. Although I did find the circumstances and execution a bit clumsy, (particularly in contrast to the sleekness of everything else about this production), I think the ending was jolting and unnerving but not flawed. It just shows how difficult it can be to assess what's going on inside someone else's head.
| THE DYING GAUL
by Craig Lucas Directed by Mark Brokaw with Linda Emond, Tim Hopper, Robert Emmet Lunney and Cotter Smith Set Design: Allen Moyer Costume Design: Jess Goldstein Lighting Design: Christopher Akerlind Original Music and Sound Design: David Van Tieghem Vineyard Theatre, 108 East 15th Street (212) 353 - 3874 Limited second run closes October 25, 1998 Reviewed by Les Gutman 9/25/98 |
