I went into it with high hopes. I want my friends to succeed, the creative team is top notch (Lynne Meadows directed), and there are so few straight plays on Broadway that you hope a good one will spark more.
Unfortunately, THE PERPLEXED is a hot mess. It is getting terrible reviews. The NY Times hated it. I can’t imagine it’ll be around much longer.
I’m not going to review it per se because what are the chances you’ll ever see it? But what struck me and what I want to focus on is how obvious and basic the mistakes were. How many rules of common sense storytelling were broken – rules that are there for a reason (they WORK).
The play is set literally in a drawing room. But all the action (what little there is) takes place offstage in another room. There are the obligatory “bombshell” reveals but they change nothing. The exposition and relationships between the characters is utterly unfollowable. There are way too many characters, and yet the main antagonist (who drives what little story there is) is never seen. Many times the narrative just stops while two characters discuss social issues. Numerous times two characters will be doing a scene while a third character is sitting upstage reading a book. He’s in full view and earshot of the conversation but doesn’t engage. Playwriting 101 says actors HATE being onstage with nothing to do. If they don’t belong in the scene find a way to get them out. I think they teach that the first day.
Another actor disappears for an hour. When he returns you’re going “who is he again?”
The play is billed a comedy and has precious few laughs. It’s 2 hours and 30 minutes long. The characters are mostly all rich assholes and you don’t emphasize with any of them. The story moves are contrived and unbelievable. There’s to be a wedding in the ballroom, but they’re holding the dinner and reception FIRST and then at midnight the couple is getting married. Huh? Why? Who does that and for what reason other than the writer needed it that way?
It also felt like the K-Tel version of today’s zeitgeist theatre topics. Diversity, immigration, LGBT, culture clashes, religion, politics – all touched on in a mish-mosh of indulgence and over importance. Check all the boxes.
Like I said, if these were mistakes by a novice playwright I would understand it. But Jesus, the Manhattan Theatre Company? Tony-winner, Richard Greenberg? Lynne Meadows? Didn’t ANYBODY step back and notice these neon glaring problems?
There was an article before the play opened in the NY Times where Greenberg & company were talking about how they used previews to really listen to the audience and sharpen the play. Really? Based on the review, nothing of any substance changed from when I saw it almost two weeks before opening. A number of audience members left at intermission the night I was there. When the lights went up for intermission someone in my row called out “This is a mess!” So what audience was Greenberg reading?
I’ve spent my life going to run-throughs and bad ones are apparent. There’s no gray area. You KNOW you have a dud on your hands and you’re going to have to rewrite the shit out of it – maybe even junk it and try for something else.
The version I saw ran 2 hours and 39 minutes. In two weeks, 6 minutes were added. This was really the Emperor’s New Play.
This is a play that exists solely because of the creative team's track record. Maybe next time someone should READ it first.
In the opening welcome announcements, in addition to asking the audience to unwrap their candy and turn off their cellphones, they should also say “If you’re a playwright, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.”
from By Ken Levine
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