Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Lily Thorne’ limp PEACE FOR MARY FRANCES meanders, despite the presence of the great Lois Smith

• By drediman
• June 5, 2018
• No Comments

Lois Smith, Johanna Day, and Paul Lazar in Lily Thorne’s “Peace for Mary Frances” at the Pershing Square Signature Center courtesy of The New Group.

This weekend, I caught up with The New Group’s Peace for Mary Frances at the Pershing Square Signature Center. I really wanted to like Lily Thorne’s limp new play concerning one elderly and bedridden Mary Frances, who must suffer through and deal with the petty bickering of her children during her last days. The production stars the great Lois Smith in the titular role, who here unfortunately is tasked with making dramatic sense of an overlong play that frustratingly meanders. That being said, I feel there’s a good 90-minute play buried somewhere in there.

Of late I’ve questioned artistic director Scott Elliott’s taste in plays. Indeed, both Seth Zvi Rosenfeld’s Downtown Race Riot  and David Rabe’s Good for Otto were both curiously subpar plays, albeit produced to a polished sheen and luxuriously cast. I feel the same way about Peace for Mary Frances. Mr. Elliot has engaged one of Off-Broadway’s most talented and sought-after directors, Lila Neugebauer, to helm The New Group’s latest offering. As usual, she has a keen eye for detail, but here it works against the play. Although the production has many meticulously-wrought moments, what the piece needs is an aggressive hand to shape it in order to inject some dramatic momentum. Which is perhaps contrary to the point Ms. Thorne is trying to make – death rarely happens neatly and logically presented itself to us – but compelling theater this does not make.

As for the casting, in addition to the wonderful Ms. Smith – who turns in a very good performance here – the fine company also includes Johanna Day, Paul Lazar, and Heather Burns as the siblings, along with a handful of talented, hardworking New York stage actors. Individually, these are very fine, accomplished actors. But here they (most of them) play characters so unremarkable and unlikeable, it was difficult to appreciate the craft of their work.

SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED

PEACE FOR MARY FRANCES
Off-Broadway, Play
The New Group at Pershing Square Signature Center
2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Through June 17