Review: Alex Lyras Tour de Forces in His PLASTICITY
By: Gil Kaan Jan. 30, 2017
PLASTICITY/written by Alex Lyras & Robert McCaskill/directed by Robert McCaskill/Hudson Guild Theatre/thru March 13, 2017
The world premiere of PLASTICITY, a one-man show featuring Alex Lyras as an entire cast of characters, has the great fortune of a multi-talented performer in Lyras interpreting a very detailed script written by Lyras and Robert McCaskill. McCaskill ably directs his sole actor at a quick pace, with Lyras sometimes acting against himself as different characters.
An adventurous dare-devil David Rosely has landed in the hospital after collapsing in, of all places, his theatre seat. His twin Grant flies in to keep vigil over his comatose brother, along side of David's fiancée Katherine. An assortment of medical personnel and lawyers come into Grant and Katherine's path as decisions and arguments ensue on David's recouping process.
Lyras smoothly slips from character-to-character with the subtlest of body language adjustments and distinct distinguishable accents, even rapping and exhibiting his smooth vocals.
Kudos to all the creatives for certainly one of the more sophisticatedly technical shows ever put on in a small theatre. Video designer Corwin Evans utilizes stunning visuals to vividly illustrate the twins' various childhood and grown-up memories, landscapes, hospital rooms, close-ups of the various people involved, and the denotation of passing time (over four years). Composer and sound designer Ken Rich, in tandem with, set and lighting designer Matt Richter immeasurably complement the quick scene changes, while advancing the story and delineating personalities.
With some judicious editing, this very ambitious 90 minutes could be streamlined into a 60-70 minute knock-out.
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