Good theatre doesn't need special effects to be effective,
only a good script, good direction, and talented actors to present it. We Call
Her Benny, written and directed by Suzanne Bachner, is a perfect example.
The story is delivered in fragments, with two non-linear
stories from Anna's life being told simultaneously. The play unfolds like a
puzzle box, shifting and changing with each new piece of information. One story
is that of adult Anna (Judy Krause) and her alcoholic husband (Tim Smallwood)
sexually experimenting with Anna's childhood friend Gaby (Morgan Lindsey
Tachco) and her boyfriend Peter (
Bob Brader); meanwhile Anna is trying to deal
with the emotional demands of her clingy birth mother (Candice Owens), and the
taunts of her imagined stillborn brother (Nathan Faudree). The other story is
of 1980s teenage Anna (Anna Bridgeforth), who is bipolar, seeing a therapist (Einar
Gunn), having jailbait sex with an older family friend (Danny Wiseman), and
searching for medical information on her birth mother, despite her dad (Bob
Celli) worrying that it might offend her hospitalized mom.
I was fortunate enough to catch an early one-hour version of
the play in last year's Frigid Festival (
review here), so I was very intrigued
to see what had been done with the piece when it was expanded into a
full-length. The stories have been
deepened, giving the characters more breadth (especially for Kevin, Anna's
husband, and Max, teenage Anna's pedophilic boyfriend), and though the play
still maintains its brisk and clever air, Bachner is not afraid to explore the
darker places. (Even in the previous
production, she took unexpected risks with her stories characters, but now she
has the chance to fully explore her themes in greater detail).
Bachner has a genius for dialogue; the early scenes lightly
brush the surface of the plot while subtextually illuminating the issues that
will become more evident as the play continues.
Even light banter has an underlying confusion and pain that the actors dig
their teeth into.
Her direction, as before, is exquisitely theatrical- Four
black cubes are the only scenery; All the actors are onstage throughout, and
serve as living wallpaper in scenes- at times playing teenage Anna's
nervousness while talking to her therapist, or melding into eroticism as Anna
is being seduced, or in a freeze-frame as the family photo of Anna's birth
mother's extended family.
In the previous production, there was a much greater physical
resemblance between the two Annas; in this version they don't look alike at all
(aside from being the only characters dressed in red), which led some audience
members to be initially confused (or so they said in the lobby), but eventually
they caught on.
The actors are great.
Most have carried over from the previous production. Anna Bridgeforth, as teenage Anna, is simply
sublime, switching from precocity to naïveté from moment to moment. Newcomer to the cast Judy Krause is wonderful
as the mature Anna, her sardonic wit bristling at every turn. Morgan Lindsey Tachco is terrific as both
Gaby and the Adoption agent- a new scene with Gaby as a teenager is
wonderful.
Bob Brader is still hilarious
as the eagerly seductive "I love cunnilingus!" Peter, but added scenes also
allow him a little more depth. Candice
Owens is a frightening comic delight as Judy, the birth mother. Danny Wiseman is great as charismatic child
molester Max, as well as a jerkass cab driver in the opening scene. Einar Gunn as Dr. Weitzner is subtle as a
therapist should be. Tim Smallwood is, by turns, funny and frightening as Kevin. Bob Celli is great as Dad. Nathan Faudree is impishly evil as Brother.
Lighting Design by John Tees III perfectly enhances the
production without distracting. Costume
design by Nadia Volvic is great- everyone in shades of grey and black, except
the two Annas in red.
The show is terrific.
Go see it, if you want to see the amazing things that theatre can do.
We Call Her BennyThe John Montgomery Theatre Company
The Michael Weller Theatre
311 West 43
rd
St. 6
th Floor (between 8
th &
9
th Avenues)
Running Thursdays-Saturdays, and Mondays at 8pm.
Tickets $18 or $10 for students and seniors.
Smarttix.com or 212-868-4444
Photo Credit:Scott Wynn
1. Anna Bridgforth, Danny Wiseman
2. l-r: Tim Smallwood, Judy Krause, Morgan Lindsey Tachco, Bob Brader
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