Off-B'way Review: The Disappear

Hamish Linklater and Miriam Silverman in
The Disappear.
Credit: Jeremy Daniel

People who make movies and write novels are terrible at relationships. What’s more they don’t give a hoot about the environment or climate change unless their more mature teenage kids force them to. That’s the take-away from Erica Schmidt’s dark comedy The Disappear, presented by Audible at the Minetta Lane Theater. There are some funny moments in this Virginia Woolf wanna-be, but the entire evening feels like a sitcom version of Noah Baumbach’s 2019 film Marriage Story which handled basically the same material--a show-biz couple splitting--with more subtlety and depth. Schmidt deserves credit for clever dialogue and a few insightful observations on art versus reality and our narcissistic culture, but the characterizations are too often inconsistent and the plot feels overly familiar and forced.

Volatile film director Benjamin Braxton (appropriately obnoxious Hamish Linklater) and his wife, artistically successful novelist Mira Blair (complex Miriam Silverman) are at each others’ throats. He feels belittled, frustrated and desperate for fresh passion after 20 years of marriage while she barely tolerates his selfishness and obliviousness to household duties. Their frayed union is hanging by a thread. The only thing keeping them together seems to be their environmentally-conscious young daughter Dolly (multi-faceted Anna Mirodin) and Mira’s tenacious belief in long-term matrimony. While working on his latest project, Benjamin has become obsessed with flighty actress Julie Wells (Madeline Brewer in a total switch from her submissive Janine on The Handmaid’s Tale). But when hot young star Raf Night (sexy Kevin Harrison Jr.) signs on to co-star with Julie, he makes Mira’s collaborating on the screenplay a condition of his participation. 

Of course, the husband and wife’s working together spells disaster. Their clashes form the meat of the play, but their go-rounds soon become repetitious. In addition, Schmidt’s direction emphasizes broad comedy and screaming matches with little room for nuance. There is a furious onstage sexual encounter between Benjamin and Mira which offers insight into their love-hate bond (kudos to Intimacy Director Alison Novelli), but it’s not enough to make clear why these two have stayed together if they make each other so miserable. Plus the characters’ motivations and objectives shift radically depending on the latest plot twist. Julie is portrayed as an eccentric dimwit, but changes to a take-charge, self-determined feminist by the final curtain. Early in the play, acerbic British producer Michael Bloom (valuable Dylan Baker) angrily claims no one but him will finance Benjamin’s films or put up with his erratic behavior. Later he argues that Benjamin is a genius and must be given his space. 

Miriam Silverman, Dylan Baker,
and Hamish Linklater in The Disappear.
Credit: Jeremy Daniel

Schmidt also inserts a sub-theme of the adults’ indifference to Dolly’s environmental causes. Michael mentions his house has been destroyed in recent wildfires and Dolly insists on planting trees to balance out her parents’ gigantic carbon footprint caused by their international travel. This is a potentially impactful aspect of the story, but Schmidt does not develop it fully. Set designer Brett J. Banakis does incorporate outdoor plant life into the couple’s handsome rustic residence.

You can’t fault the cast for the flaws of the play. Linklater does his best with Benjamin who has to be the most repulsive character on a New York stage in the past few decades. He manages to find this narcissist’s vulnerable core, but Schmidt make him such a vile egotist it’s hard to sympathize with or even tolerate him. Silverman displays Mira’s ambiguous feelings towards her husband as well as her conflict between her writing career and her role as wife and mother. Brewer makes Julie’s transformation from ditz to heroine at least somewhat plausible and Harrison has funny moments spoofing Hollywood up-and-comers. Mirodin balances adolescent entitlement with global concerns, making Dolly a layered character.

Anna Mirodin, Madeline Brewer, and
Hamish Linklater in The Disappear.
Credit: Jeremy Daniel

Dylan Baker makes the most of his supporting role as the producer. He invests Michael with such a strong subtext and history, it’s apparent why he remains loyal to the unreliable Benjamin. Even the most off-hand, seemingly casual line gains meaning in his experienced hands. When Michael furiously explains his new diet with a viciously delivered “I’m off cheese!,” it brings the house down.

Perhaps most confusing is the title. What exactly is disappearing? Is it the power couple’s marriage? The environment? Both? Schmidt doesn’t make it clear nor does she define her characters strongly enough for us to care whether they disappear or not.

Jan. 15—Feb. 22. Audible at the Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, NYC. Running time: two hours and 20 mins. including intermission. ticketmaster.com.