A Very Naughty Greek Play

I've come to the conclusion that Aristophanes was just too far ahead of his time for his own good. Oh, certainly, all cultures throughout history have had to deal with corrupt governments and stupid citizens, but somehow Aristophanes' plays seem amazingly relevant to 21^st Century American life. Modern playwrights have been drawing on his oeuvre to create "new" works that criticize the quirks and foibles of government and society with wit and silliness. Stephen Sondheim's adaptation of The Frogs hopped into Lincoln Center last year with a new book by Nathan Lane, and now we have A Very Naughty Greek Play (Utopia Parkway), based upon The Wasps, created by the Aquila Theatre Company. Originally, The Wasps focused on the enlightenment of a corrupt judge by his insightful son. A Very Naughty Greek Play, however, gets all that thought-provoking nonsense out of the way early on and spends the rest of the play focusing on... well, not a lot. Silliness, mostly. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that.

Indeed, I'm sure that wherever he is, Aristophanes would probably be quite amused to see what Aquila has done with his play. His shows, while intelligent, were never terribly high-brow, and catered to the lowest common denominator with bawdy, tasteless humor while making their satirical point. Aquila has rather kept in step with Aristophones' intentions with their adaptation. So that's good, at least.

What isn't so good is the execution. Aristophanes' plays had a point, a heart around which the play revolved. A Very Naughty Greek Play reaches its climax about half-an-hour in, and spends the next hour-and-a-quarter wasting time with broad, lowbrow humor that rarely says much or produces more than chuckles. About as subtle as an anvil dropped on one's head, and almost as funny, this makes one long for the gentle, dainty wit of Nathan Lane. And really, when a play has the words "naughty" and "Greek" in the title, one does develop high expectations. Unfortunately, the play isn't terribly naughty, and is rather disappointingly tame. As Michael Dale has pointed out many times, there is precious little so dull as someone trying to shock you. This play is certainly not lacking in energy, but alas, it becomes the theatrical equivalent of a treadmill: lots of running, but no one gets very far.

Anthony Cochrane, Robert Richmond, Alex Webb, and Richard Willis are much more effective as performers than as collaborative playwrights (Lisa Carter, Peter Meineck, and Desiree Sanchez Meineck are also credited as co-creators, courtesy of Meineck's translation of the original Greek text). The funniest moments in the play come more from the deliriously manic performances than from the script. Mr. Webb is particularly funny in his many roles, especially in a monkey suit and doing a dead-on Dubya imitation, and Mr. Willis, as the sophisticated son, evokes Robert Evans at his sleekest and smartest. Mr. Richmond revels in the coarse humor of his role as the corrupt judge, and Mr. Cochrane (who also provides the bizarre yet catchy music) serves very well in his many roles.

Aristophanes may be as relevant today as he was two thousand years ago, but any revisiting of his work must find his balance of coarse humor and insight. A Very Naughty Greek Play doesn't walk that line, and while it has some funny moments and some very good performances, it ultimately feels like a tragic waste of many talented artists.

A Very Naughty Greek Play runs until March 20^th, Wednesday-Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 5 & 9 PM, and Sunday at 3 PM. Tickets are $45 and $25, and are available by phoning Telecharge at (212) 239-6200.