Off-B'way Review: The Saviors

Julius Rinzel and Ivan Howe in
The Saviors. Credit: Ahron R. Foster

Bubba Weiler emerges as a major playwriting talent with The Saviors, his second major Off-Broadway production, now at the Atlantic Theater Company. Apart from joining the American company of the Harry Potter play on Broadway, Weiner has appeared on the New York scene as an actor in Rebecca Gilman’s Swing State, portraying an ex-con barely holding on to a grinding truck delivery job. His sensitive performance of a desperate young man earned him nominations for Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Lortel Awards. He made his NY debut as a dramatist with last season’s multi-leveled and moving Well, I’ll Let You Go, a compassionate chronicle of a recent widow coming to terms with her loss and the varying reactions of her community. Weiler demonstrates he is no one-track pony with this new play, an equally probing examination of the painful search for faith in a confusing world.

Ivan Howe and Julius Rinzel in The Saviours.
Credit: Ahron R. Foster

The setting is a Catholic church in a suburban neighborhood, possibly in the Midwest where middle schoolers and best pals Michael and Paul serve as altar boys. Devout Michael eagerly prepares for his upcoming confirmation while Paul is doubting the very existence of God. Their friendship and Christian belief is tested when homeless drifter Julian enters seeking shelter during a snowstorm. Conventional Michael bristles at allowing Julian to stay, but Paul secretly grants him access after hours by leaving the side door unlocked. Meanwhile, Michael seeks advice from Judy, the adult advisor of the church’s youth group. Unfortunately, Michael is the only kid that shows up for the first meeting and Judy is experiencing hidden struggles of her own involving her son whom she says is heading a mission in Africa.

Off-B'way Update: Atlantic Season

The family musical Finn at Kennedy Center
before Trump (or his minions) pulled the plug.
Credit: Teresa Wood

Atlantic Theater Company has announced its 2026-27 season schedule which includes world premieres by Lucas Hnath (Dana H., A Doll's House, Part 2), Clare Barron (You Got Older), Jackie Sibblies Drury (Fairview), and Mona Pirnot (I Assume You Know David Greenspan). The company is currently presenting Bubba Weiler's The Saviors. Their fall season opens with Pirnot's I Became We (Oct. 16--Nov. 15) with music by Jack D. Coen and lyrics by Pirnot and Coen. This is a one-person monologue performed by a 30-person choir. 

Atlantic will also present children's theater with Finn, a family musical whose Kennedy Center tour was cancelled when Trump took over the venue, supposedly because it promoted tolerance of those who are different from you. (Dec. 12-Jan. 31 at Atlantic Theater Stage 2).

Deirdre O'Connell in Dana H.
Credit: Carol Rosegg

Next is Clare Barron's Too Bad for Her (Jan. 9-Feb. 14) about a 30-year affair. Anne Kauffman (The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window) directs. Lucas Hnath's Old Actress follows (March 18--April 25) reuniting him with his Dana H. star Deirdre O'Connell and director Les Waters. O'Connell won a Tony Award for playing a version of Hnath's mother. The play is described as a meta-threatrical experience about learning lines for a show.

The final attraction will be Push from Pulitzer Prize winner Jackie Sibblies Drury (May 27-July 3) with direction from Justin Peck and choreography by Peck and Patricia Degado, about the American premiere of a Russian defecting dancer and the American choreographer creating a piece for him. Set in 1976, it sounds a bit like it could be modeled on Mikhail Baryshnikov and Twyla Tharp.

Off-B'way Review: Indian Princesses

Serenity Mariana, Haley Wong, Lark White,
Anissa Marie Griego and Rebecca Jiminez
in Indian Princesses.
Credit: Ahron R. Foster

The pain of adolescence and being labelled as different is conveyed with humor and compassion in Eliana Theologides Rodriguez’s insightful comedy Indian Princesses, now at Atlantic Theatre Company’s Linda Gross Theater in a co-production with Rattlestick Theater. The title refers to a father-daughter YMCA bonding program modeled on the Boy Scouts, but as the author explains in a program note, the well-intentioned activity is based on a “pernicious fiction.” An Indian Princess “is an archetype invented to justify the ongoing brutalities of colonization.” Ironically, five middle-school-aged, mixed-race girls spend a formative summer with their white fathers but fall victim to the program’s stereotyping cliches and the cruelty of the other girls’ tribes. The results are a deeper understanding of the young girls’ cultures and uncomfortable confrontations for the dads.

Each of the potential “princesses” and their conflicted pops are drawn with telling details. Andi, the eldest at 12 (entertainingly sullen yet suffering Rebecca Jimenez), longs for more information on her late Mexican Mom. Her macho working-class Anglo father Mac (Pete Simpson, expert at conveying subtext) refuses to open up to her. Whimsical Maisie (delightfully smart and perceptive Lark White), is obsessed with magic and fantasy while her unemployed, unfocused dad Wayne (soulfully struggling Ben Beckley) in an effort to protect from harsh reality, refuses to discuss her African-American background or the history of slavery. 

Anisa Marie Griego and Greg Keller
in Indian Princesses.
Credit: Ahron R. Foster

Well-meaning lawyer Chris (comically blundering Greg Keller) clumsily attempts to interject progressive ideas and attitudes into the gathering and to his strained relationship with his Native American stepdaughters, show-biz-crazy Lily (sweetly show-off-ish Anissa Marie Griego) and shy Hazel (enchanting Serenity Mariana). The group’s heavily religious “Chief” Glen (moving Frank Wood) is torn between keeping “politics” out of the program and acknowledging the raw truth of racism the girls have to face. His granddaughter Samantha (desperate and darling Haley Wong) is wracked with guilt for what she describes as “sinful thoughts.” 

Ben Beckley and Lark White in
Indian Princesses.
Credit: Ahron R. Foster

The Glen-Samantha storyline is the least developed here. We don’t find out why Samantha is living with her grandfather as opposed to with her parents or what she considers sinful. However, Wood and Wong fill in the missing backstory with subtle and layered performances, as does the entire cast. Director Miranda Cornell balances the dramatic and comic moments like an expert juggler. The troupe’s bizarre skit for the Indian Princesses’ Talent Night called “America the Beautiful” is a particularly wonderfully staged and written sequence. Chief Glen has written a wholesome, vanilla-flavored rendition of American history, suitable for a conservative audience. But each of the dads and daughters has their own agenda—Andi wants act on her secret crush on Chris; Chris wants to impose his “woke” sense of  diversity on Glen’s whitewashed version of our national past; Lily sees this as her big opportunity to sing and dance; and slightly embarrassed Wayne and Mac are just looking to bond with their girls. The resultant fiasco is a mess in terms of the story with the kids and parents stepping on each other’s lines, dropping props, and missing cues, but thanks to Cornell’s clear staging we understand each character’s objectives. 

This scene, along with the unspoken dialogue and incomplete sentences that mark the rest of this lovely play, tell us volumes about each of the unhappy daughters and their fathers. They’re all trying to love each other, but so much stands in the way. Rodriguez lovingly chronicles their efforts, failures and attempts to surmount the barrier of prejudice and to celebrate their heritages.

Emmie Finckel’s versatile set recreates a believable community center and the surrounding rustic woods while Mextly Couzin’s atmospheric lighting provides for several different additional locations. This is a beautiful and tender play of healing families and seeking one’s identity.

May 19—June 7. Atlantic Theater Company and Rattlestick Theater at the Linda Gross Theater, 336 W. 20th St., NYC. atlantictheater.org.

Off-B'way Review: Let's Love!

Noah Robbins and Aubrey Plaza in
Let's Love! Credit: Ahron Foster

Love is a battlefield in Let’s Love!, Ethan Coen’s trio of darkly funny one-acts at Atlantic Theater Company. Sex can be a weapon, a bargaining chip or a source of solace on a rainy night in these short, piercing vignettes. Similarly, the emotional component is an elusive prize the characters are willing to fight, scheme and strive for. Coen employs the same devilish cynical humor on display in his many films, mostly collaborations with his brother Joel, such as Miller’s Crossing, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, and A Serious Man. But there are also hints of romance and joy amid the bleakness and potential violence. It’s a delightfully droll and satisfying evening, blistering and comforting at the same time, directed with a deft hand by Neil Pepe who balances the sharp bite of satire with sweet sentiment.

Chris Bauer and CJ Wilson in Let's Love!
Credit: Ahron Foster

The main piece of the three vignettes is an extended farce involving an ever-shifting series of love triangles. It’s a combination of the snark of Coen’s complex screenplays and the rollicking revolving romances of La Ronde. Aubrey Plaza, famous for playing wickedly nasty yet secretly vulnerable characters on the TV series Parks and Recreations and Agatha All Along, rips into the role of Susan, a vengeful virago out to get retribution on her soft-hearted ex Dan (comically gooey-centered CJ Wilson). She claims all she wants in a good roll in the hay, but she really longs for affection. Susan plots to retaliate against Dan for leaving her by hiring a thug to beat him up. But its turn out the hired muscle, known simply as Tough, has feelings too. Chris Bauer is hilariously deadpan as the surprisingly sensitive hit man. Add in Dan’s current girlfriend Faye (sly Mary Wiseman), who is just as manipulative and duplicitous as Susan, and Howie (goofily endearing Noah Robbins), a blind date for Susan who also has his own secret perversions, and you get a wild ride through the minefields of relationships.

Mary McCann and Dion Graham in
Let's Love! Credit: Ahron Foster

This highlight is bracketed by two shorter works of varying quality. The evening opens with a pair of alternating interior monologues between a been-around-the-block Broad (yes, that is how she is identified in the cast list) and a lonely businessman, refers to as The Man. It’s a rainy night in a deserted bar on Second Avenue. In isolated spotlights, the two patrons spill out their life stories and desperate need for connection. Mary McCann and Dion Graham deliver subtle soul-stirring performances of these nighthawks.

Nellie McKay in Let's Love!
Credit: Ahron Foster

The last piece comes across as a kind of one-joke afterthought. The Boy (Robbins again, just as adorable) overcomes his insecurities to form a bond after a disastrous first blind date with The Girl (equally tender Dylan Gelula). This piece is a slight doodle with one low-grade big laugh involving food poisoning and a stuffed panda. The three playlets are punctuated by brilliantly sung love standards and originals sung by the accomplished and endearing Nellie McKay whose light, child-like voice reminded me of the legendary Blossom Dearie. The last piece is slight, but fortunately, McKay and the entire cast bring the tone back up with a delightful musical finale. Riccardo Hernandez’s versatile sets convey multiple locales with efficiency while Reza Behjat’s lighting provide the appropriate mood, dark and depressed to warm and cosy. Peggy Schnitzer’s costumes perfectly each character, denoting their attitudes towards love and themselves. Let’s Love! scores two out of three, which ain’t bad.

Oct. 15—Nov. 22. Atlantic Theater Company at the Linda Gross Theater, 336 W. 20th St., NYC. Running time: 90 mins. with no intermission. atlantictheater.org.

Off-B'way Reviews: Lowcountry; Duke & Roya

Babak Tafti and Jodi Balfour in
Lowcountry.
Credit: Ahron R. Foster

Two unconventional plays about odd romantic pairings recently opened Off-Broadway. Both attempt to tackle significant topics outside of the “boy-meets-girl” arena, and both come up short. Abby Rosebrock’s Lowcountry at Atlantic Theater Company takes the awkward-first-date premise into dangerous territory but stretches credulity too much for its themes to reach full impact. 

Both participants in the rendezvous are seriously damaged individuals. David (Babak Tafti, deftly conveying suppressed trauma) is a divorced father emerging into the dating world after wearing an ankle monitor for a sexual offense (the true nature of his crime is slowly revealed during the course of the date). By court order, he must attend a recovery program for sex addicts and report to a probation officer who has issues of his own (Keith Kupferer in an effective cameo). David’s date Tally (Jodi Balfour in a kinetic, jittery performance) is a hot mess returning to her hometown after stints in Los Angeles as an actress and gig worker. She’s still dealing with the death of her mother when she was a child as well as coping with her difficult father. 

Jodi Balfour and Babak Tafti in
Lowcountry.
Credit: Ahron R. Foster

Their encounter takes place in David’s cramped apartment in small-town South Carolina (Arnulfo Maldonado designed the realistic, squalid setting).  According to the terms of David’s parole, any encounters must be in public. The play opens as he is preparing a pasta dinner for Tally while lying about the location to his parole officer Paul in his regular phone check-in. The main focus of the play is David and Tally’s clumsy attempts to connect. Rosebrock uses their fumbling reaching out to provide social commentary on our fractured society. (Perhaps that could be the meaning of the title, indicating our polarized, degraded American culture as well as the coastal region of South Carolina.) David is foreign-born, adopted and made a citizen as a child. His country of origin is never revealed but the specter of ICE deportation hangs over him like a menacing cloud. Tally drinks and smokes weed to cope with her rage, presumably over her mother’s early demise which she claims was brought on by the mom’s dislike of then President Bill Clinton. 

Babak Tafti and Jodi Balfour in
Lowcountry.
Credit: Ahron R. Foster

Jo Bonney’s direction is well-paced and Tafti and Balfour deliver compelling portraits of two desperate losers oppressed by bad luck and bad choices. But Rosebrock’s central theme is not entirely clear. Is she saying our divisive culture has pushed David and Tally into an impossible corner with no escape but tragedy? Tally’s motives are not focused either, though they gradually become somewhat clearer. The play does culminate with a shocking act of violence which is not completely earned by the proceeding character development. In the script provided, Rosebrock reveals Lowcountry is part of a trilogy. Perhaps the other two plays would explain further. 

Off-B'way Update: A Sale, a Strike and a Scary Balance Sheet

Seaview has bought the
Tony Kiser Theater

Off-Broadway theater companies are in trouble. Following the COVID pandemic, audiences have been slow to return and as a result, companies are presenting fewer shows with smaller casts. Financial woes have contributed to several concerning developments. Second Stage has sold its Off-Broadway theater, the Tony Kiser (formerly a bank on W. 43rd Street) to Seaview, a principal producer of such Off-Broadway shows as Hold On to Me Darling, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, and the Barrow Street revival of Sweeney Todd. The 296-seat venue will be rebranded as Studio Seaview to present commercial Off-Broadway productions. The first production will be directed by Sam Gold (currently represented on Broadway by Romeo and Juliet) and will open in Spring 2025. This season Seaview is represented on Broadway by Stereophonic, Romeo and Juliet, All In, Once Upon a Mattress, Good Night and Good Luck, The Last Five Years, and in London by Slave Play and My Master Builder. 

Atlantic Theater Company

Atlantic Theater Company is suffering economic troubles of a different kind. The stage hands' union IATSE, recently went out on strike against the company. Atlantic's two current shows Grief Camp and I'm Assuming You Know David Greenspan, have been postponed indefinitely. A strike was called when negotiations between the union and the theater broke down. Negotiations started almost a year ago when Atlantic crew members voted to join the union which represents all Broadway shows and the Off-Broadway shows Titanique and Little Shop of Horrors as well as the Public and Vineyard Theaters. 

Signature's Pershing Center

Signature Theater Company is also experiencing fiscal and other struggles. Oscar winner Brendan Fraser has withdrawn for the company's upcoming production of Samuel D. Hunter's Grangeville (Fraser's Oscar win was for the film adaptation of Hunter's The Whale), "due to unforeseen circumstances." He will be replaced by six-time Drama Desk nominee Paul Sparks (At Home at the Zoo) who will play opposite Brian J. Smith (The Matrix Resurrections). In addition, Philip Boroff of Broadway Journal reports that Signature's auditors, Lutz and Carr, have "substantial doubt about the organization's ability to continue as a going concern." Lutz and Carr reports that Signature's net assets dropped $6.6 million or 17 percent in 2022-23. The company is presenting only three plays this season--Grangeville, Dominique Morriseau's Bad Kreyol (in a co-production with Manhattan Theater Club), and Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice. That's down from eight shows ten years ago.

According to Boroff, Signature will bolster its bottom line by renting out its stages to another company--Second Stage (see the first paragraph) which will present D.A. Mindel's On the Evolutionary Function of Shame at Signature's Irene Diamond Stage beginning Feb. 12 and Donald Marguiles' Lunar Eclipse there in May. The New Group also rents space from Signature. Such collaboration between companies may be the wave of the future for Off-Broadway theaters and their best bet to survive.