Any Given Monday has next to nothing to do with football. It’s an ingeniously structured, subversively funny, morally off kilter play during which realistic characters achieve unexpected perspective in the face of what appears to be a calamity. GO.
Lenny (Paul Michael Valley),is one of the last of an endangered species, a genuinely good guy. After 24 years, he still gets up from the table to pull out his wife’s chair, agonizes over right and wrong, and always cries at the end of To Kill a Mockingbird (which he watches repeatedly). “Because I’ll never be as good as Atticus Finch.” His wife, Risa, (Hillary B. Smith), has just left him for a titan of mall real estate, apparently a stronger man. Having insisted on running their lives, she got tired of her husband’s accommodating nature. Lenny falls apart and calls in sick taking to pizza and the couch.
Sarah (Lauren Ashley Carter), Lenny’s daughter, an intermittent narrator of the piece, is about to graduate a prestigious school with a degree in philosophy. Something of an intellectual spitfire, her first few speeches contain reference to Wittgenstein, Samuel Johnson, God, and the Holocaust, with which, Risa points out, her daughter seems preoccupied. “When you were seven, we showed you The Diary of Anne Frank. The next day you moved all your stuff up to the attic.” Sarah returns home to comfort dad and question mom.
Mick (Michael Mastro), Lenny’s best friend, also barges in out of concern, insisting on Monday Night Football rather than Atticus Finch. Imagine Art Carney’s Ed Norton character from The Honeymooners on speed. Outraged, warped perspective has compelled Mick to take matters into his own hands in an effort to “fix” things for Lenny. A train wreck of a situation is presented testing the good guy’s principles and limits. What price happiness?
Sarah overhears and gets involved in outcomes. (I’m sure some spoilsport critic will reveal the details of his action. Should you read something, don’t feel it will ruin the story).
Playwright Bruce Graham has given us a genuinely original concept (when is the last time you heard that phrase applied to theater!?) which spools out in precisely observed interaction through crackerjack dialogue.
Lauren Ashley Carter (Sarah) charms us from the get-go. Her engaging performance creates a quick, smart, youthful mind grappling with truths of human nature beyond iconic studies. Carter is completely focused, reacting not a moment before what she’s heard or seen has been processed. Her stage presence has an appealing brightness and underlying range.
Hillary B. Smith (Risa) offers so complete a personification, you’ll think you know her. Dialogue is impeccably timed, exuding warmth and irony. Despite a flair for comedy, Smith never allows her character to be less than fully grounded. Second act emotional pyrotechnics prove the actress to be a wonderful physical performer as well. The most inappropriate reactions seem credible. Vulnerable, confused, descriptive gestures are priceless.
Michael Mastro (Mickey) is a virtuoso. The rhythm of his kinetic embodiment rings true in speech and physicality alike. From perfect pregnant beats before response, to facial expressions of unflappable amorality, he creates a really undercooked point of view. Mickey has no attention span and a congenitally thumping knee. He grows passionately involved in the ball game at deeply serious moments. Mastro switches tracks with artful skill and striking believability.
Paul Michael Valley (Lenny) takes awhile to warm up. The sweet, stricken man he portrays actually appears barely there for much of the first act. In Act II, the actor rises to the occasion offering a subtle and convincing “coming out” with solid emotional core and effective interplay.
Bud Martin’s direction is extremely accomplished and imaginative. Every character possesses and communicates specific attributes and mannerisms. Comic timing is pitch perfect and beautifully balanced with inherent tension. Irksome situations are played with precise observation. Martin creates an empathetic situation out of one close to inconceivable. Staging, with some scenes off the main set, works fluidly and well.
Dirk Durossette’s set is problematic. Though Lenny is a teacher, his wife is an event designer. That the house is poorly furnished from Pier 1 is economically feasible. That it appears in every way to be a bachelor pad is not. Risa’s supposedly decisive taste is nowhere to be seen. Her precious coffee table is without any aesthetic appeal or apparent worth. Bobby Pearce’s costumes suit the characters like second skin.
Photos by Carol Rosegg, from top:
1. Michael Mastro and Paul Michael Valley
2. Paul Michael Valley, Lauren Ashley Carter, and MIchael Mastro
3. Lauren Ashley Carter and Hillary B. Smith
Act II Playhouse presents
Any Given Monday by Bruce Graham
Directed by Bud Martin
59E59 St. Theaters
59 East 59th Street
Ticket Central 212 279 4200 or www.59e59.org
Through November 6, 2011
