Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Sarah Ruhl’s FOR PETER PAN ON HER 70TH BIRTHDAY is heavy on whimsy, light on true magic

• By drediman
• September 14, 2017
• No Comments

Daniel Jenkins, Keith Reddin, Kathleen Chalfant, and Lisa Emery in Sarah Ruhl’s “For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday” at Playwrights Horizons

Playwright Sarah Ruhl has made a name for herself for taking bold, poetic, and highly theatrical flights of fancy in her plays. Her latest, For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday, which opened last night in a cleanly-staged Playwrights Horizons production, is no different. Unfortunately, this uneven piece about a grieving family and the magic of theater (an odd combination, even onstage) suffers from severe identity crisis – highly stylized surrealism and starkly realism collide in really no meaningful way. There are, however, effective moments sprinkled like fairy dust throughout.

I myself much preferred the early hyper-realistic hospital scene in which the play’s five adult siblings (allegedly based on the playwright’s own family) assemble at their father’s deathbed. Pinter-esque moments tantalizingly permeate this exqusitely-realized scene (kudos too to director Les Waters); there’s rich unsaid subtext here that works beautifully onstage. As the play progresses, Ms. Ruhl inexplicably and increasingly weaves in elements of surrealism, as well as an all-out depiction of one of the sibling’s involvement as Peter Pan in a children’s theater production of the J.M. Barrie classic. The connection between these disparate worlds is tenuous, at best. Instead of heightening the play’s theatricality, this nonsensical march into surrealism alienated me.

I had seen the play previously in a low-key but effective staging in Chicago starring the playwright’s own mother, actress Kathleen Ruhl. Although I had reservations about the play itself then, that Shattered Globe production was gorgeously acted (the meta aspect of the casting really helped, I think). Despite some valiant efforts from its cast, including that magnificent stage creature Kathleen Chalfant as the Peter Pan costume-donning sibling, this Playwrights Horizons production fails to capture the Chicago’s production’s intense intimacy. There is no doubt, however, that Ms. Ruhl is a unique, essential voice in the contemporary landscape of American theater. I eagerly look forward to taking the next leap with her.

SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED

FOR PETER PAN ON HER 70TH BIRTHDAY
Off-Broadway, Play
Playwrights Horizons
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through October 1