Like on her Broadway-themed television show "Smash," in "Seminar," running through June 16th at
Actor's Express,
Theresa Rebeck pulls away the curtain to revel the struggles required to create something for the enjoyment of others. Being able to see those struggles, both personal and creative, is a bit like seeing a sausage being stuffed; it can be ugly, but, if done well, the results are nonetheless appetizing. While Rebeck's script is mostly edge-of-your-seat exciting, it is riddled with lukewarm cliches. Thankfully, the superb cast compensates with deliciously rich performances. Directed by
Suzi Award winner Freddie Ashley, "Seminar" almost completely avoids the self-important tedium of a writer writing about writers who complain about how difficult writing is.
In Kate's (Cara Mantella) family's posh, rent-controlled Upper West Side apartment, four talented twenty-something fiction writers have paid an exorbitant amount to have their work critiqued by once-promising novelist, turned emotionally-vapid editor, Leonard (
Andrew Benator). On paper, the students read like stock characters from every story ever written about artists; Douglas (David Plunkett), the well-connected and talented, but pretensious name-dropper; Izzy (Bryn Striepe), the sexy flirt willing to manipulate whomever it takes to get published; Martin (Barrett Doyle), the pompous bohemian afraid to share his work; and Kate, the well-educated girl from a wealthy family. Leonard undresses her (figuratively) after reading just five words of the story she has been rewriting for years and says that her obvious insecurities have left her with "nothing to say." Despite this harsh criticism, it is Kate who is the show's most complex and realistic character; a testament to Mantella's talent.
Fortunately, the cast is more than able to paint nuance onto the otherwise cardboard caricatures. In fact, this group of five actors creates a show that rises above their hackneyed characters and finds the heart of what Rebeck's story is all about; the personal toll that comes with creation. Whether that toll comes from rejection, fear, or the insults of a bitter has-been, it still hurts.
After reading the first paragraph of Izzy's sex-filled work in progress, Leonard semi-sarcastically says, "This has a sound, it rings, like a bell. It doesn't matter that there's no subject, or story, or idea, or meaning."
Brandishing "truth" as his weapon, Leonard cuts down each student with backhanded compliments that start as acerbic and venture towards acidic. However, his running downs, and how his students react to them, give "Seminar" an edge that makes it feel as if the show is building toward an eventual explosion.
Leonard seems to be particularly harsh to Martin, the student who seemingly can take it the least. Although, as their relationship develops, it is clear that Leonard sees something familiar in the whiney writer. This relationship is what takes Rebeck into already well-trodden territory, through no fault of Benator or Doyle, who thrive with otherwise one-note characters. The spark and energy with which the cast has propelled the show, slows dramatically in its last act. Though filled with a few worthwhile surprises, the ending just seems like the filler compared to the play's earlier, meatier action.
The intellectual, and some times esoteric, nature of show is accentuated by the spot-on apartment set, by Phillip Male, and costumes, by Elizabeth Rasmusson. The show will hit (perhaps too) close to home for anyone who has painstakingly toiled in any creative endeavor.
Despite an uneven script, Ashley's cast of exceptionally talented actors makes "Seminar" one of the best shows of the year thus far. I recommend bookending your weekend with two plays about the power of literature, "Seminar" at Actor's Express and "
The Book Club Play" at the
Horizon Theatre. "Seminar" runs an hour and a half with no intermission, and is not recommended for children. To get tickets call
404-875-1606 or visit the Actor's Express
website.
Pictured: Andrew Benator, Cara Mantella, Barrett Doyle, Bryn Striepe, David Plunkett.
Photo Credit: BreeAnne Clowdus
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