Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – NAT TURNER IN JERUSALEM and MAESTRO continue to prove the challenge of staging fully convincing bio-dramas

• By drediman
• September 28, 2016
• No Comments

In my experience, when it comes to depicting historical figures, the genre of theater is at a unique disadvantage when compared to, say, books or cinema. Books have the benefit of the mind’s eye to recreate well-known people and events, and cinema has the advantage of period-perfect costumes, makeup, and sets, thereby minimizing the effort with which audiences need to suspend their disbelief. Indeed, two of these so-called “bio-dramas” on the boards of New York are currently proving how difficult it is to convincingly bring to life historical figures on the stage.

Phillip James Brannon and Rowan Vickers in “Nat Turner in Jerusalem” at NYTW

Nathan Alan Davis’s new play Nat Turner in Jerusalem (SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED) is a two-hander that tells the story of Nat Turner’s last night in prison before his execution the next day. Despite Mr. Davis’s best efforts to bring theatricality and a sense of the religious or the mystical to Turner’s last night on earth, what we see onstage at New York Theatre Workshop, under Megan Sandberg-Zakian’s contemplative runway staging, is a rather pedestrian and derivative tale. This is unfortunate given the considerable talents of the two actors, Phillip James Brannon and Rowan Vickers. Mr. Brannon (who plays Turner) is a particularly fine actor, bringing sensitivity and a deep well of feeling to everything he does. Unfortunately, here, I was left unconvinced by Turner’s saint-like convictions that fuel this play. But that’s more the writing’s doing rather than Mr. Brannon’s.

Hershey Felder in “Maestro” at 59E59 Theaters

Uptown at 59E59 Theaters, Leonard Bernstein is being brought back from the dead by Hershey Felder in his solo show Maestro (RECOMMENDED). Mr. Felder has carved a niche for himself by creating a series of portraits of musical giants, including the likes of Gershwin, Chopin, and Beethoven. Although Mr. Felder is not the most subtle of actors, and his writing at times feels like a game of connecting the dots, he does have an ace up his sleeve – Mr. Felder is a superb pianist, and he uses music as a central tool to communicate these genius’s intangible greatness. Luckily, in Maestro, there are more than enough of these musical interludes to satisfy the soul while just sufficiently (albeit efficiently) telling the story of this tough, magnetic, and imperfect man.

NAT TURNER IN JERUSALEM
Off-Broadway, Play
New York Theatre Workshop
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through October 16

 MAESTRO
Off-Broadway, Play
59E59 Theaters
1 hour, 45 minutes (without an intermission)
Through October 16