Kowalski Off-Broadway Reviews

Ultimately, Kowalski is a fascinating exploration of two extraordinary minds colliding in a moment that would change theater forever. Anchored by exceptional performances, particularly Flynn’s magnetic Brando, the play is a must-see for fans of Tennessee Williams, Brando, and the art of storytelling itself.

Kowalski isn’t an entirely seamless play. Both the framing device (an older Tennessee Williams telling the story on a talk show) and the secondary characters feel somewhat superfluous against the strength of the meeting between Williams and Brando. But the electricity of the two lead characters together is undeniably exciting to experience, and it just may make you want to go home and learn everything there is to know about them.

It is possible, I suppose – if you know nothing and/or care nothing about the real-life Tennessee Williams or Marlon Brando – to find “Kowalski” a fully satisfying theatrical experience. This would largely be because of Brandon Flynn. Flynn is now best-known for his role in the TV series “13 Reasons Why,” but I remember him vividly portraying the kidnapped child at the center of “Kid Victory,” the 2017 John Kander and Greg Pierce musical. Flynn’s performance moved us to identify with his character’s suffering, and joy, and confusion.The writing in “Kowalski” doesn’t get inside the characters in the same way, and when Flynn first appears, my main reaction was to size him up based on how accurately his voice and manner and appearance correlated to the real Brando. But by the end, his performance seemed less an impersonation, and more an argument for the power of a magnetic actor.

Kowalski offers more than an imagining of the pivotal night that resulted in the award-winning production of an American classic; it is also a penetrating psychological study of ego, power, and control, absolute dedication to one’s craft, and the drive to achieve acceptance, recognition, and success. Ostrin, Hanlon, and the cast deliver both the entertainment and the insights.

Ostrin takes his cue from Streetcar‘s tragic heroine, Blanche DuBois, who famously insisted, “I don’t want realism. I want magic.” Kowalski‘s deliberately artificial set-up makes Brando a far more crafty and underhanded man who goes to unexpected lengths to land the job; it also sometimes reduces many of the other players, including Williams himself, to caricatures in service of Brando’s ambition. Still, there are some effective moments, particularly in the way Ostrin orchestrates scenes that mirror key episodes in Streetcar — like Flynn-as-Brando’s version of the plaintive cry “Stella!” to his wounded lover. Kowalski offers a vision of the past that strays far from the shadows of the real, but ultimately settles for legerdemain rather than pure magic.

A glimpse into theatrical history (although clearly a mix of fact and faction), “Kowalski” is a satisfying combination of drama and melodrama, much like many of Williams’ plays.