Absurd Person Singular
Another boulevard comedy
opens on Broadway.
I’m Isa Goldberg
reporting on ABSURD PERSON SINGULAR at the Biltmore Theatre.
Alan Ayckbourn’s
play is essentially the kind of comedy that plays well on Broadway,
entertaining us with the antics of 3 married couples on 3 successive
Christmas Eves in each of their 3 kitchens. But there is something
oddly Ionesco-like about the repetition of their socially conscious
behaviors – the meaningless chatter, the self-absorbed husbands,
and their overlooked wives.
As directed by John Tillinger
the humor is nearly slapstick. Clea Lewis as hostess number one
is a compulsive house cleaner whose social phobia robs her of enjoying
either her guests or her husband’s need for social connection,
especially with people he considers “very very useful to
us.” Mireille Enos, similarly, retreats totally into a self
destructive mode when her narcissistic husband threatens to leave
her. But this is a comedy after all and these totally submissive
women fare better in the end, especially Mireille Enos as Eva who
winds up wearing the pants in her marriage as well she should.
But ABSURD is not about
happy endings. Fun here is defined by irritating interpersonal
behaviors and sadistic social games and how much we get out of
them. It all culminates of course in Christmas Eve number three.
Here the treatment decked out to unexpected guests and people you
just don’t like, feels so predictable, one thinks how often
we’ve been in those shoes, and how ridiculously funny it
all is.
For the most part that’s
the pleasure of this production which revels in the pressures of
holiday gatherings and the anticipation of closeness with others.
Perfect timing for the season.
Despite the soft subject
there are some delightful performances, particularly Mireille Enos
who proves herself to be an irresistible femme fatale and, of course,
Paxton Whitehead who’s clown like portrayal of the repressed
banker can be quite cutting, if not cutting edge.
That’s This Week on Broadway. I’m Isa Goldberg.
