Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT — Seth Zvi Rosenfeld’s DOWNTOWN RACE RIOT, starring Chloë Sevigny, is languorous, aimless

• By drediman
• December 4, 2017
• No Comments

Chloë Sevigny and David Levi in the New Group’s production of Seth Zvi Rosenfeld’s “Downtown Race Riot” at the Pershing Square Signature Center.

Last night, Seth Zvi Rosenfeld’s languorous new play Downtown Race Riot opened Off-Broadway at the Pershing Square Signature Center, courtesy of the New Group. Set in 1976 in Greenwich Village, the play depicts the domestic conflicts of a family against the larger backdrop of an impending racially-charged race riot in Washington Square Park.

Unfortunately, Mr. Rosenfeld’s writing, despite some pungent stretches, manages to suck the tension out of the potentially explosive premise. The result is a sluggish kitchen sink drama that slowly creeps along. Even the show’s climax fails to fully engage, given the lack of transparency into the characters’ exact motivations in the previous scenes.

Luckily, Scott Elliott’s authentic, period-perfect production at least looks great (kudos to the excellent design team) and is competently acted (Chloë Sevigny, as the drugged-out family matriarch, does well to convey the era’s blasé attitude). These relative strong points, however, cannot save the play from its meandering aimlessness.

SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED 

DOWNTOWN RACE RIOT
Off-Broadway, Play
The New Group at the Pershing Square Signature Center
1 hour, 40 minutes (without an intermission)
Through December 23