Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – The Bushwick Starr establishes itself as a hotbed for the next generation of exciting theater-makers (MILES FOR MARY, [PORTO], CUTE ACTIVIST)

• By drediman
• February 17, 2018
• No Comments

The company of The Mad Ones’ “Miles for Mary”, originally staged The Bushwick Starr, at Playwrights Horizons.

Last night, I caught the return engagement of The Mad Ones’ sensational Miles for Mary at Playwrights Horizons. I had caught the devised piece previously at The Bushwick Starr, a theater company located in its increasingly hip namesake neighborhood. The experience last night got me thinking about all of the defining, boundary-pushing productions that have sprung to vibrant life at the inconspicuous second floor walkup theater in Brooklyn. Over the years, The Bushwick Starr has established itself, in my mind, as one of the premiere, exciting incubators for the next generation of theater-makers, producing works that express the human condition in new, highly theatrical ways. Shows like Dave Malloy’s seductive and spectral song cycle Ghost Quartet (Mr. Malloy is best known as the creative mastermind behind the blazing immersive musical The Great Comet), Clare Barron’s provocative I’ll Never Love Again, Heather Christian’s rousing séance musical Animal Wisdom, Kate Benson’s adventurous [Porto], Milo Cramer’s hallucinatory Cute Activist, and of course The Mad Ones’ keenly observed Miles for Mary  have all pushed theater – some more effectively than others – firmly into the 21st century.  

It’s currently an exciting time for The Bushwick Starr. The most recent show to run at the company’s Brooklyn home, Mr. Cramer’s highly amusing Cute Activist (RECOMMENDED), explored the millennial mindset ways that were highly amusing, albeit disjointed. Indeed, the production’s charm arose from the script’s meandering and often unexpected trajectory, as well its youthful cast’s deliciously deadpan delivery of it. This winter, you can also currently see two exports of a pair of excellent Bushwick Starr productions – Ms. Benson’s fascinating post-feminist play [Porto] at the Women’s Project Theatre (I recently reviewed the RECOMMENDED production here) and the aforementioned Miles for Mary  (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) at Playwrights Horizons. The latter, an hilarious, ultimately unsettling parody on the ineffectiveness and futility of meetings – and by extension, human interaction and language, in general – has been meticulously remounted by the (rightfully) sought-after director Lila Neugebauer. If anything, the production’s cast, all of whom have returned to the play for its current run, is even more attuned to Ms. Neugebauer rigorous, sensationally theatrical sensibility.

MILES FOR MARY
Off-Broadway, Play
Playwrights Horizon
1 hour, 50 minutes (without an intermission)
Through February 25

[PORTO]
Off-Broadway, Play
WP Theater
1 hour, 25 minutes (without an intermission)
Through March 4

CUTE ACTIVIST
Off-Broadway, Play
The Bushwick Starr
1 hour, 15 minutes (without an intermission)
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