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A CurtainUp Review
The Duck Variations and Sexual Perversity in Chicago
By Larry Switzky
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The duck is not like us, you know.
.—-Emil in "The Duck Variations." You're a very attractive woman. Anybody ever tell you that? Huh? So okay, so what sign are you? — Bernie in "Sexual Perversity in Chicago." |
(L to R): Thomas Derrah as Emil and Will LeBow as George in "Duck Variations."
(Photo: Kati Mitchell.) |
Both plays are meditations on sexuality and self-deception in wildly different keys. The two old men of Duck. . ., also set in Chicago, are more thoughtful, more raw in ricocheting between power and need than their swinging '70s counterparts in Perversity. There are uncanny—and occasionally oddball—echoes between the two, like a running gag about the evolutionary value of sweat and the repeated collisions between narcissism and a broader political world. in this muscle retrospective Mamet shows that he could always write women, the elderly, comedy, philosophy, tragedy and satire in his distinctive shotgun patter.
2-Headed Duck
(Reproduced by permission of image creator, Jack Sommer |
There are some great bits. Emil is convinced that the zoo has a duck-like creature called something like a cantelope, but the more George tries to figure out the real name of the animal, the more defensive Emil becomes. But the real reason to watch this two-hander is the dynamic between Tommy Derrah and Will LeBow, both brilliant comic actors who elevate second-hand existentialism to sublime joy. The transitions between the short scenes —: at half-light, the glance from one actor to another — is an expansion of the minimalist dialogue that speaks volumes.
Four brave ART Institute students play Perversity. . . with vigor and bite. They have the comic timing and intelligence to follow Mamet's sudden reversals and ironic self-revelations, but mostly lack the presence needed to fill the cavernous space. Paul Stacey's direction diligently revisits the frenetic pace and multi-level staging of past productions, though his continual shifts in setting seem to work against both the theater and his actors' strengths.
The real stroke of genius here is casting the up-and-comer Tim Eliot against type as Bernie, the ueber-male in Mamet's cavalcade of jaded sexual warriors. With his bel canto voice and boy-next-door innocence, he's an unlikely, though wholly convincing, incarnation of neurosis a la Mamet.
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The Duck Variations Written by David Mamet Directed by Marcus Stern Cast: Thomas Derrah (Emil Varec); Will LeBow (George S. Aronovitz) Lighting Design: Jeff Adelberg Sound Design: David Remedios Stage Manager: Chris De Camillis Production Assistant Graydon Gund Sexual Perversity in Chicago Written by David Mamet Directed by Paul Stacey Cast: Tim Eliot (Bernard); Scott Lyman (Dan); Susannah Hoffman (Deborah); Laura Parker (Joan) Costume Design: Mallory Freers Lighting Design: Jeff Adelberg Sound Design: David Remedios Stage Manager: Kyle Carlson Zero Arrow Theater, Zero Arrow Street, www.amrep.org, 617-547-8300 From 6/11/09 to 6/28/09 Tickets: $25-39 |
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Playbill 2007-08 Yearbook
Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide
Wicked
Jersey Boys
The Little Mermaid
Lion King
Shrek The Musical
South Pacific
In the Heights
Playbill 2007-08 Yearbook
Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide