Review Roundup: THE INTELLIGENT HOMOSEXUAL'S GUIDE...

THE INTELLIGENT HOMOSEXUAL'S GUIDE TO CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM WITH A KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES is presented by The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Interim Executive Director Joey Parnes) and Signature Theatre Company (Founding Artistic Director James Houghton; Executive Director Erika Mallin) in association with the Guthrie Theater (Joe Dowling, Director). Michael Greif, who directed the world premiere at the Guthrie in April 2009, directs the New York premiere, which opened today, May 5 and runs through June 12.

The cast for THE INTELLIGENT HOMOSEXUAL'S GUIDE includes Michael Cristofer, Linda Emond, Michael Esper, K. Todd Freeman, Hettienne Park, Steven Pasquale, Molly Price, Matt Servitto, Danielle Skraastad, Stephen Spinella and Brenda Wehle. Cristofer, Emond, Esper and Spinella originated their roles in the Guthrie Theater's world premiere of the play. Let's see what the critics had to say:

Ben Brantley, The New York Times: From the get-go it is clear that while the resulting debate may be intellectual, it won't always be intelligible. Roughly 10 minutes into this nearly four-hour production, just after that first sexy phone exchange, "Guide" explodes into a babel of fast-talking, passionate voices - slapping and overlapping, twining and crashing into one another. And you may find yourself sitting back and grinning at this noisy spectacle of so many people having so much to say with so much passion and eloquence that you can't follow a single one.

Charles McNulty, LA Times: Themes and theatrical precedents are crammed to the breaking point...This is thrillingly ambitious, but the author's playwriting craft has trouble keeping pace with his grandiose vision, which is once again measuring the gap between tidy theory and messy, unpredictable life. And Greif's production, assured as it is, can't rectify structural wrongs.

Mark Kennedy, Associated Press: Tony Kushner is not known for his brevity and some may complain that his new play is too long. Even the title - "The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures" - is too wordy. Oh, but it's also lush and beautiful, funny and an education. It is poignant and smart, gloriously messy and wonderfully acted. And never, ever boring. You know what? Brevity is overrated.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Post: Half the time, the members of an extended Italian-American family yell at each other, all at once. The other half, they trade ideological arguments and self-righteous recriminations. The effect is mostly draining, occasionally bracing...Kushner seems to prefer ideas to humans, especially those who aren't neurotically intellectual. It's an odd, neglectful lack of empathy that "The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide" can't overcome.

David Finkle, Huffington Post: Because of the sheer breadth of his dramatizing skills, Kushner gives a director and cast myriad challenges -- most of which are germane to his purpose. But not all...Does everyone in the play need an implied high IQ to deliver the spell-bindingly weighty dialogue? Why the names Pill and Empty -- which are short for, respectively, Pierluigi and Maria Teresa, or M. T.? The weird, even off-putting handles suggest some metaphorical point never made.

Scott Brown, NY Magazine: In fact, as rapt as I was, I don't think I ever truly believed these people were a cohesive family-even a nontraditional, overeducated one. That they earned their way into my heart nonetheless, via my brain, is a testament to Kushner...Oddly, I wanted to be closer to his din, not farther away: director Michael Greif can deal with many bodies in motion at once, in ways that most directors can't imagine.

David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter: Greif's cast is fully committed to the complexities of these flawed and often far from sympathetic characters, conditioned by a set of beliefs and values they struggle to honor. Standout work comes Cristofer, all grim, wounded purposefulness, stubborn convictions and snarling self-justification; Emond, whose hardheaded character is the biggest chip off the old block; Pasquale, hurt and vulnerable, yet spitting out V's soured opinion of the union movement as a body blow to Gus; Wehle, her Sphinx-like composure cracked by the driest of observations; and Skraastad, whose tightly wound rants pierce the tension with spiky humor.

Jeremy Gerard, Bloomberg: A core of Kushner specialists are at work here, including Stephen Spinella as the maddeningly confused Pill and Linda Emond as the sexually flexible, rock-solid Empty. The ensemble works magnetically, the individual members pulling and repulsing each other as family members will...Kushner, to his credit, lacks -- perhaps even renounces -- [Arthur] Miller's moral certitude. The "Guide" ends on an ambivalent note, which is, I suppose, exactly as it should be.

Matt Windman, amNY: Good luck making sense of "The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures," Tony Kushner's ambitious, sprawling and messy new family drama. It's filled with so many ideas, philosophical arguments and subplots that it's tempting to throw in the towel before it finally ends after nearly four hours and two intermissions.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.