When it comes to personal happiness, people don't realize they might have to constantly redefine that elusive state.
British playwright Lucinda Coxon's "Happy Now?" is a sarcasm-laden, dark comedy about a group of educated Londoners who are approaching middle age with confusion, fear, regret and anger. The Primary Stages production opened Tuesday at off-Broadway's 59East59 Theaters.
Mary Bacon has the central role of Kitty, an overtaxed, frustrated working mother questioning her past choices and limited future options. Kitty meets Michael, a happy-go-lucky married man, at a business conference and becomes angry when he makes a casual pass at her. C.J. Wilson amiably portrays Michael, a genial opportunist who calls himself "an out-of-shape clown," yet advises Kitty that his offer will stay with her in the future.
Kitty's life is already overflowing, with a stalled career, two young children and a busy husband, Johnny, who devotes all his time to his new career as a teacher. Kelly AuCoin portrays Johnny, a former stockbroker who is so wrapped up in his academic career that he fails to notice Kitty's emotional needs.
When she returns from a visit to her seriously ill father and becomes angry that Johnny has invited a houseguest to stay with them, Johnny astonishes her by responding, "It's not like I really know your dad."
Kitty's also coping with a neurotically selfish mother (Joan MacIntosh) and an alcoholic friend, Miles, whose marriage is unraveling _ right into Kitty's house.
Miles is played with acerbic nastiness by Quentin Mare, while Kate Arrington plays his wife, Bea, with deceptive placidity overlaying repressed rage. Miles constantly snipes at Bea, explaining himself drunkenly at one point to Johnny by saying, "She's just one of those people you want to be cruel to."
Kitty's gentle gay friend Carl (Brian Keane) takes a romantic view of life and is hopeful about his own new relationship. Speaking about Miles and Bea as their marriage appears to be coming apart, Kitty tells Carl, "They're happier than you think they are," to which he ruefully replies, "There are lobsters in restaurant tanks happier than I think they are."
Bacon's Kitty is so tightly wrapped that her extreme facial contortions can seem almost cartoonish at times. But Bacon also conveys Kitty's frustration with some of the situations in her life in more subtle ways, such as a well-timed pause or an astonished look. When Kitty finally unwinds in a hotel room confrontation with Michael, Bacon shows the charming, girlish side of her character.
Director Liz Diamond keeps the cast and plot in constant but not frenetic motion, with each scene flowing fluidly into the next. Narelle Sissons' efficient set design and Matt Frey's lighting aid in the smooth transitions.
Coxon provides a lot of laughs, more than a few of them bitter, from the absurdities of shared domestic life and parenting. Part of Primary Stages season of new works celebrating the female playwright, "Happy Now?" runs through March 6.
No comments:
Post a Comment