Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Lydia R. Diamond’s SMART PEOPLE lacks focus and, sad to say, smarts

• By drediman
• February 15, 2016
• No Comments

Yesterday evening, I had a chance to catch Lydia R. Diamond’s Smart People, which opened last week at Second Stage. Ms. Diamond’s play, a meditation on love, race, and identity in modern-day America, calls to mind a number of British urban comedy of manners like Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing and Patrick Marber’s Closer. Unfortunately, Smart People lacks the tightly-structured focus and compelling points of views of the plays that it tries so hard to emulate. Despite a few convincingly written scenes, too much of the play feels manipulative and even worse, predictable. It’s the kind of play that should be two steps ahead of its audience, but sadly the inverse is true most of the time.

The production is directed smoothly by Kenny Leon on a bland set by scenic designer Riccardo Hernandez (lit nicely by Jason Lyons with unattractive projections by Zachary G. Borovay). The competent cast of four includes Mahershala Ali, Joshua Jackson (of Dawson’s Creek fame), Anne Son, and Tessa Thompson. Only the lovely and luminous Ms. Thompson is giving a performance that approaches the level of complexity and nuance that I think Ms. Diamond was aiming for.

SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED

SMART PEOPLE
Off-Broadway, Play
Second Stage Theatre
2 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
Through March 6