Review Roundup: FIRE AND AIR Opens Off-Broadway

The cast and crew of Terrence McNally's Fire and Air celebrated the world premiere of the new play at Classic Stage Company Thursday, February 1st. Directed by John Doyle, the show runs at CSC (136 East 13th Street) for a limited engagement through Sunday, February 25th.

The cast of Fire and Air features James Cusati-Moyer (Nijinsky), John Glover(Dima), Douglas Hodge (Diaghilev), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Massine), Marsha Mason (Dunya) and Marin Mazzie (Misia).

FIRE AND AIR explores the rich history of the Ballets Russes, Sergei Diaghilev's itinerant Russian ballet company. Surrounded by great talents of art, design, and music, the tempestuous relationship between Diaghilev and dancer Vaslav Nijinsky revolutionizes dance forever. Fire and Air features scenic design by John Doyle, costume design by Ann Hould-Ward, lighting design by Jane Cox, sound design by Matt Stine and hair and make-up design by J. Jared Janas.

Let's see what the critics had to say...

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Jesse Green, The New York Times: There may yet be a lively and moving work to be mined from Mr. McNally's research and sympathy for Diaghilev. It would need more characters actually doing things, though, as in Richard Nelson's engrossing "Nikolai and the Others," a play also focused on the creation of art, in that case Balanchine's. But aside from a few golden moments, "Fire and Air" is inert. It has only partly emerged into life, like a statue still half-stuck in the marble, or a faun forever frozen in place.

Sara Holdren, Vulture: So why is McNally's Fire and Air such leaden drama? Under the direction of CSC artistic director John Doyle, the play almost never achieves the loft and ferocity implied by its titular elements. Though McNally is a writer of far more sensitivity than Scott Carter, he too becomes mired in the challenges of bringing to life a larger-than-life figure. How can a writer humanize someone like Diaghilev - or Nijinsky, for that matter - while simultaneously conveying the myth? How can we retain connection onstage with a human being whose Wikipedia page might fascinate us, but whose appearance in the flesh struggles to transcend the hoariest clichés of Troubled Genius?

Matt Windman, amNY: "Fire and Air," which is receiving its world premiere at Off-Broadway's Classic Stage Company, 136 E. 13th St., proves to be an intense and interesting drama on the subject, albeit underdeveloped and patchy. It stars English actor Douglas Hodge (who won a Tony in 2010 as the drag artist Albin in "La Cage aux Folles") as Diaghilev.

Tim Teeman, The Daily Beast: McNally's play, directed by John Doyle, the CSC's artistic director, is stately and proudly wordy; more an animated meditation on desire, art, and power than a raw deconstruction of a once-fruitful, now-screwed-up relationship. Diaghilev was an artistic polymath-whose inspirations and practices embraced visual art, music, and ballet-and yet we see none of that swirl around him.

Jeremy Gerard, Deadline: Heartbreaking also is an apt word for McNally's obvious love for these complicated, characters whose ferocious self-regard is of a piece with their compulsion to produce art. It's what links the artist and the impresario. It's ultimately anti-romantic and perhaps lacking in conventionally dramatic narrative, because so much is hidden in the heart (not to mention the bedroom). Yet in McNally's compassionate vision and Doyle's exquisite evocation, it's terribly human.

Robert Hofler, The Wrap: Much of this drama takes place during the intermission. But rest assured, McNally has his characters tell us all about it. Except for the re-creation of the "Faun" debut, McNally uses Nijinsky and other historic figures to reflect on the many crises of Diaghilev's career as the actors sit on gilded chairs borrowed from some high-end banquet at Cipriani...A talented cast brings more hot air than fire to this group of giants turned ciphers.

Michael Feingold, The Village Voice: The rest of the cast largely does better. Doyle's staging is stark and formalized; the company enters in two lines down the mostly bare stage. A mirror with ballet barre occupies the upstage wall; another, above it, is angled to reflect the full stage, so that spectators can look up and view the tops of the actors' heads as they move in and out of formation. Marsha Mason as the elderly servant who dotes on and nurses Diaghilev; Marin Mazzie as Misia Sert; and John Glover, wasted on the thankless role of Diaghilev's old ex-boyfriend and business manager, all do as well as they can with material that mainly seems predictable. Two young actors, James Cusati-Moyer as Nijinsky and Jay Armstrong Johnson as Massine, seem chiefly called upon to pose languidly, most often shirtless; both periodically get the chance to show they can also act.

Barbara Schuler, Newsday: Still, the play offers wonderful performances and an interesting peek into a little-known world. And for people who take their ballet seriously, this piece is a must, with its realistic exploration of a man who had so much influence on the arts of the 20th century. Without him, Doyle writes in program notes, "we would not have dance as we know it today."

Naveen Kumar, Towelroad: Where the barre serves as ballet's foundation, no such anchoring principal grounds McNally's bustling historical drama, which despite its title can often feel airless and gives off precious few sparks. McNally's portrait of the artist as a boil-covered egoist may stay true to the facts and incidents of Diaghilev's storied career, but this portrait's overall aspect and purpose are difficult to decipher.

Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter: You'll want to learn more about the legendary dance company Ballets Russes, its impresario Sergei Diaghilev and star dancer Vaslav Nijinsky after seeing Terrence McNally's new drama being given its world premiere at off-Broadway's Classic Stage Company. Not because Fire and Air is so good that it piques your curiosity, mind you, but rather because the play is so lifeless that the real story must certainly be more interesting. It's the sort of historical drama that makes one yearn for the vivid theatricality of a Wikipedia page.

Photo Credit: Greg Pace

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