Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Two of 2014’s biggest theater success stories start to find lives outside of New York

• By drediman
• April 22, 2016
• No Comments

Two of 2014’s biggest theater success stories – Robert Schenkkan’s Tony Award-winning All the Way and Annie Baker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Flick – couldn’t be more different, except perhaps in ambition and in length.  Whereas Mr. Schenkkan’s LBJ epic is furiously-paced and gives a panoramic, character-filled view of the events leading up to the 1964 Presidential Election, Ms. Baker’s intimate single-set play about three lost souls working at a soon-to-close cinema requires only four actors and is drenched in pregnant silences. After the acclaim both plays received in their respective New York incarnations, it’s interesting to see how these plays fare as they begin to take on lives at regional theaters around the country. This past week, courtesy of two prominent Washington, DC-area theater companies, I was able to assess this natural evolution in these plays’ life cycles. I’m happy to report that both plays are currently being given satisfying productions at Arena Stage (All the Way) and Signature Theatre (The Flick).

Arena Stage’s production of All the Way (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), intimately yet expansively directed by Kyle Donnelly, is perhaps the more successful of the two new mountings. I suspect it’s primarily because Mr. Donnelly’s production opts to re-envision the play from its muscular Broadway production (which was directed by Bill Rauch and starred the Tony-winning Bryan Cranston) – Mr. Kyle’s well-oiled staging opts for a cleaner look and a less forceful, more fluid style than its Broadway predecessor (thanks in large part to Kate Edmunds’ spare set design and Nancy Schertler’s lighting design). But there are other factors at play. Staging the play on Arena’s iconic in-the-round Fichandler stage is a better fit for Mr. Schenkkan’s play, allowing the swirling avalanche of overlapping scenes to breathe and take on an organic life, as opposed to being somewhat stifled by a proscenium, which was the case in New York to a small degree. Additionally, All the Way, in its subject matter, is a play made for our nation’s capital – DC lives and breathes all things political and it was a thrill to be in that engaged environment to take in this play. The acting in this Arena Stage production is on par with the one seen in New York. Jack Willis as LBJ is just as commanding as Mr. Cranston celebrated portrayal was (in fact, Mr. Willis originally played LBJ in the original Oregon Shakespeare Festival production prior to the Broadway run), and Bowman Wright made for an effectively conflicted Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Flick (RECOMMENDED), which is currently in the midst of an extended run at Signature Theatre (in Arlington, VA – not to be confused with the New York-based theater company of the same name), is more or less a re-mounting of Sam Gold’s exquisite original production, which was first seen at Playwrights Horizons before transferring and settling into the Barrow Street Theatre for a successful commercial Off-Broadway run – to some extent. As directed by Joe Calarco for Signature, this Flick deviates slightly from Mr. Gold’s staging. Mr. Calarco has directed his small cast – comprised of the game quartet of Evan Casey, Laura C. Harris, Thaddeus McCants, and William Vaughan – to go for a more overtly theatrical acting style and a lighter, less introspective approach. As a result, the gestures are larger and the line readings suggest everyday naturalism rather than the existential angst and pungency of Mr. Gold’s production. Visually and aurally, however, the two productions are nearly identical and the attention to detail is impressive (scenic design by James Kronzer, consume design by Frank Labovitz, lighting design by Andrew Cissna, and sound design by Eric Shimelonis). Although I slightly preferred the darker tone of and the sense of despair brought out by the original New York production, it’s a testament to Ms. Baker’s audacious focus on the mundane that her play continues to compel sans the guidance of Mr. Gold, her long-time partner in crime (they have both have a long history of collaborating with each other).

ALL THE WAY
Regional, Play
Arena Stage (Washington, DC)
2 hours, 45 minutes (with one intermission)
Through May 8

THE FLICK
Regional, Play
Signature Theatre (Arlington, VA)
3 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
Through April 24