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John Krasinski in Angry Alan.
Credit: Jonny Cournoyer |
Unconventional storytelling methods are on display in two Off-Broadway productions, offering brave theatergoers unusual and exciting experiences. John Krasinski of TV’s The Office stars in Angry Alan, an almost-solo show, delivering a tour de force performance in a through-provoking tale of Internet-inspired angst. (This is the first production of the new Studio Seaview, a showcase for innovative Off-Broadway productions, and a good start.) Punchdrunk, the innovative company who brought us the hypnotic Sleep No More, does Angry Alan one better and gives us Viola’s Room, a performer-less dreamscape.
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John Krasinski in Angry Alan.
Credit: Jonny Cournoyer |
Angry Alan is the more conventional of the two with a linear plot narrative and a protagonist facing a crisis. Penelope Skinner’s compassionate script relates the sad tale of Roger, a 40-ish divorced dad dealing with depression after he’s lost his high-powered job with AT&T and is now employed as a dairy department supervisor in a supermarket. He is pulled out of his funk while scrolling through the web by the titular, unseen character, a social media messiah preaching the gospel of men’s rights and the evils of feminism. Through Skinner’s subtle writing and Krasinski’s empathic acting, we are slowly drawn into the dark world of Roger’s subconscious and Alan’s cult-like ecosystem. (Note: Don Mackay who originated the role at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is given a co-creator credit.) At first, Roger’s grievances and Alan’s theses seem perfectly reasonable. Men have been victimized by rigid gender stereotypes into believing they must always suppress their emotions and act as saviors to weak, defenseless dependents (women and children). But the women’s liberation or “gynocentric” movement as Alan calls it, has unfairly allowed females to blossom while ignoring the psychological well-being of their male counterparts.
Roger sees himself reflected in Alan’s discourse and there is a grain of truth in his self-pity. Feeling like a loser at the loss of his job, the blow was compounded when his wife left him and took custody of their son, allowing him only visits on holidays and weekends. But as we learn more of Roger’s story and he goes deeper into Alan’s sexist philosophy, the depth of Alan’s misogyny and Roger’s inner damage and rage are exposed. Skinner blends humor with pathos in tracking Roger’s downward spiral, poking fun at the excesses of feminist intellectualism. There are laughs as Roger points out the inconsistencies of his current “woke” girlfriend appreciating the works of abuser Pablo Picasso and the accused Woody Allen and streaming the masochistic fantasy 50 Shades of Grey.
