THE HANGOVER REPORT – A.R. Gurney’s FINAL FOLLIES is simply the sum of its parts

Colin Hanlon and Rachel Nicks in Primary Stages' production of A.R. Gurney’s "Final Follies" at the Cherry Lane Theatre. Photo by James Leynse.

Colin Hanlon and Rachel Nicks in Primary Stages’ production of A.R. Gurney’s “Final Follies” at the Cherry Lane Theatre. Photo by James Leynse.

This weekend at the cozy Cherry Lane Theatre, I caught a late run performance (the limited run ends this afternoon) of Primary Stages’ Off-Broadway production of Final Follies, a collection of one-act plays by the late A.R. Gurney, who passed away just last year. Each play is diverting on their own but unfortunately, taken together, they don’t add up to much more than simply their sum.

The evening began with the pleasantly amusing “Final Follies”, one of the final works penned by the celebrated playwright. Of the bunch, it’s perhaps the most conspicuous examination of the decline of the WASP culture, a theme much-associated with Mr. Gurney’s works. The play depicts the dire financial straights in which a waspy man finds himself and the lengths to which he’s willing to go to earn an income. This second and least memorable entry, “The Rape of Bunny Stuntz”, shows us a distressed woman as she frantically tries to lead a chaotic community meeting. After a short intermission, we got the final course of the evening, “The Love Course” (pun intended), which portrays a college class on love and literature gone haywire. In it, a as a pair of passionate, unconventional (to say the least) professors duke out the nature of love, as well as their own unresolved romantic relationship.

The production is solidly directed by David Saint, who does a good job in bringing out the humor from these short works. Personally, I could have done with less of the broad comedic antics, but the staging is commendably never dull. The cast is comprised of seven game actors (Betsy Aidem, Colin Hanlon, Mark Junek, Piter Marek, Greg Mullavey, Rachel Nicks, Deborah Rush), who acquit themselves well with Mr. Gurney’s gently yet prodding parodic sensibility.

SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED

 

FINAL FOLLIES
Off-Broadway, Play
Primary Stages at the Cherry Lane Theatre
2 hours (with one intermission)
Through October 21

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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