Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The New Group’s traveling THE SENSUALITY PARTY talks dirty, and it’s surprisingly great theater

• By drediman
• May 6, 2016
• No Comments

Yesterday afternoon, I trudged up to the Bronx to catch The New Group’s traveling, albeit site-specific, performance of Justin Kuritzkes’s The Sensuality Party at Lehman College. You see, the play – which was developed through The New Group’s New Group/New Works play development program –  is designed (at least in this staging) to play college campuses throughout New York City, which is fitting since the Rashomon-like play mostly takes place at (an unnamed) college. Mr. Kuritzkes’s probing new play tells the story of six college students who fatefully partake in an intense session of group sex, only to subsequently find themselves questioning their respective identities and viewpoints. The writing is keenly observant, often very funny, and refreshingly open about sexual intimacy, never shying away from depicting sex act(s) in graphic detail throughout its increasingly engrossing and unpredictable 90-minute running time.

The Sensuality Party is directed with cunning simplicity by Danya Taymor. Ms. Taymor, who here has a few surprises up her sleeve, distinctly stages the play’s four segments to maximum immersive effect. The very talented and attractive young cast – featuring Catherine Combs, Jeff Cuttler, Katherine Folk-Sullivan, Jake Horowitz, Layla Khoshnoudi, and Rowan Vickers – are all uncannily and utterly convincing in their roles and are unafraid to go to the uncharted, often contradictory territories that Mr. Kuritzkes’s asks them to journey to. The Sensuality Party is an unlikely late entry into The New Group’s season, and it’s a hugely pleasant surprise and a great success for the company’s New Group/New Works development program.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

THE SENSUALITY PARTY
Off-Broadway, Play
The New Group at various locations (the May 5^th performances took place at Lehman College)
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through May 13