Theater for the New City presents TAKEDOWN, new play that packs a punch

 In the Geller household, family Fridays are a hallowed tradition that lives on even longer than some of its family members. After Laura Geller dies, the family struggles to keep Fridays as a sacred time when they get together. Instead, it becomes a moment when the family frays even further and a symbol of how much things have changed, in "Takedown" at Theater for the New City.

Theater for the New City Executive Artistic Director Crystal Field is presenting a new play written by Claude Solnik and directed and with J.D. Glickman, who also portrays one of the leads. "Takedown" is a tightly scripted family drama about life, love and wrestling running Sept. 21 to Oct. 1 at TNC. Tickets are available by clicking this ticketing link.

In addition to directing, Glickman plays Lucas, a father who once played MLB. His only son Noah (Xander Furman) takes up wrestling to have a place to put the pain after the loss, as sports retain an important place in their life. Susan Neuffer (Connie) plays Lucas' mother, who works as an extra, finding her own salvation in fantasy and providing comic relief.

Colin (Christopher W. Clayton) wrestles to find a place where he can take on life's problems and win, while Molly (Hannah Brudnock) tries to navigate life in her last year of public school. Robyn Ross plays Sylvie, a friend of the family.

"Takedown is about struggle," Solnik said. "It's about how we all deal with stress, where we put it and how it can get in the way of whatever we want to do."

The play is an intense drama with realistic dialogue and performances in which we see how the past can ambush characters at any moment.

Throughout "Takedown," we see Glickman, who portrays Lucas, take out and breathe into a paper bag, to calm himself. We see how the relationship between father and son faces challenges after Laura Geller's death.

"They haven't necessarily spoken honestly with one another," Glickman said of the father and son in the play. "It's a story about how people take on adversity, but also about how they get further and finally closer together."

The play, very much like a wrestling match, shows us characters locked in holds on one another and taken down to the mat, each causing problems for and sometimes lifting each other up. It's a traditional, old-fashioned family drama in many ways.

"This is meant to be a realistic play from the dialogue to the acting," Solnik said. "It's a really good cast and they make the characters feel so real that the story seems like it's happening rather than simply being presented on stage."

While the plot is fictional, a lot of the dialogue and some of the more ordinary events come from life itself.

"In life, even small moments can be very dramatic if we're passionate about them," Solnik said. "We can have powerful emotions related to big events and even smaller things. 'Takedown' is about what people do when life takes them down. How they get back up, stand on their feet and go on. It's a somewhat cinematic script and story and it can feel like a movie acted out live in front of your eyes."

Takedown, Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave., 9th-10th Sts., $18/$15 seniors/students, Sept. 21-Oct. 1, Thurs.-Sat at 8 p.m. and Sun. at 3 p.m. Written by Claude Solnik, directed by J.D. Glickman with J.D. Glickman, Xander Furman, Susan Neuffer, Christopher W. Clayton, Robyn Ross, Hannah Brudnock, 212-254-1109, www.theterforthenewcity.net  Additional info. about the production is available via the virtual program.

 

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