Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – John Guare’s masterful NANTUCKET SLEIGH RIDE is a youthful late-career effort

• By drediman
• April 2, 2019
• No Comments

John Larroquette and Will Swenson in Lincoln Center Theater’s production of John Guare’s “Nantucket Sleigh Ride” at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

This past weekend at Off-Broadway’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, I caught John Guare’s latest play Nantucket Sleigh Ride, courtesy of Lincoln Center Theater, an institution that has long been key to the great playwright’s development and success over the years. The puzzle of a memory play tells the story of a fictitious ex-playwright (a thinly-veiled stand-in for Mr. Guare himself, whose output has waned in recent years) – best known for penning a single semi-classic play – who is coerced into recounting a zany lost summer 35 years prior (in Nantucket) that changed the course of his life.

Mr. Guare is perhaps best known for writing plays such as The House of Blue Leaves and Six Degrees of Separation. Nantucket Sleigh Ride bears more resemblance to the surreal, madcap sensibility of the former play, an early work that put the playwright on the map. It’s a thrill to see Mr. Guare, now in the twilight of his career, come up with a play with the sprightly, untamed enthusiasm that one typically associates with a playwright a quarter of his age. Conversely, Nantucket Sleigh Ride can also be seen as a mature and warmhearted career-summing work, one that exuberantly theatricalizes the fabric of memory and knowingly acknowledges the absurdities of life. Indeed, taken in totality, the play strikes me as one written by an enstablished master in total command of his craft, both in style and substance.

The production has been directed by veteran director Jerry Zaks with a zippy vigor that rarely ceases to flag. In his hands, Nantucket Sleigh Ride’s labyrinthine and absurdist twists and turns delight and tickle the imagination. For the Lincoln Center Theater production, Mr. Zaks has assembled a deluxe cast, led by Tony-winner John Larroquette. His performance as the aforementioned former playwright is pitch perfect, exuding just the right balance of worldly cynicism, charisma, and, underneath it all, genuine kindness. Mr. Larroquette is surrounded by a number of inspired performances from the likes of fine character actors such as Tina Benko, Will Swenson, and Douglas Sills.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

NANTUCKET SLEIGH RIDE
Off-Broadway, Play
Lincoln Center Theater at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater
1 hour, 45 minutes (with one intermission)
Through May 5