Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Rinne Groff’s somewhat uneven FIRE IN DREAMLAND finds stability in its trio of fine performances

• By drediman
• July 17, 2018
• No Comments

Rebecca Naomi Jones and Enver Gjokaj in Rinnie Groff’s “Fire in Dreamland” at the Public Theater.

Last night, Rinne Groff’s somewhat uneven but enjoyable new play Fire in Dreamland opened Off-Broadway at the Public Theater. It tells the story of a frustrated young woman who is compelled to take a daring leap of faith for a couple of pipe dreams – a man, filming a documentary – without sufficiently thinking things through.

What’s interesting is that although Fire in Dreamland is a play about disillusionment, betrayal, and ultimately survival, it feels unusually reassuring throughout, which I’m not sure was fully intentional. Even scenes that should be moderately uncomfortable to sit through play uncommonly smoothly, as if at a safe distance. Bravely, Ms. Groff is not afraid to utilize a wide range of highly theatrical techniques – the plethora of flashbacks, the suggestion of multiverses, fantastical sequences. Cumulatively, however, I have a feeling that these perhaps distract and dull instead of amplify the emotional intensity of the play.

Nevertheless, director Marissa Wolf is only too happy to address these adventurous textual cues, coming up with an artful, expert staging that’s flashy but never fussy. Most importantly, her cast is also game to take on the play’s bagful of flights of fancy. The superb trio of Rebecca Naomi Jones, Enver Gjokaj, and Kyle Beltran all strike authentic notes in roles that at once require plenty of discipline to fulfill Ms. Groff’s requirements, as well as emotional clarity to draw the audience into their characters’ world(s). They succeed admirably.

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FIRE IN DREAMLAND 
Off-Broadway, Play
The Public Theater
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through August 5