Ugly Lies the Bone

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 9/16/15 at 10:32pm

Saw this tonight and mostly liked it. Definitely one of the better shows to play at the Roundabout Underground space. I enjoyed Mamie Gummer's performance (always a delight as the faux sweet and naive lawyer on TGW). She is given a rather intense and uncomfortable role and I felt that she really nailed the more dramatic moments. The play overall was better when it dealt with the anguish and struggle of the protagonist rather than when it went for some humor.

 

Gummer plays a young vet who was in the middle of her third tour in Afghanistan when she met with an IED explosion and suffered burns on half her body. The make up job was excellent and quite realistic- it gave the appearance of skin grafts on half her face and one arm, damage to her hair, etc. Her doctor was attempting to use a virtual video game type therapy and the play alternates between the therapy sessions and her struggles to readjust to life at home and with a former lover. The ideas presented are strong, but the dialogue was sometimes clumsy and forced. For example, early one Gummer was given a scratch up lotto game by her sister. She scratched it off and asked her sister to read what it said. The sister responded that she won another card. Is that a good thing? Gummer asked. Well sure, it means you get a second chance.

 

But other scenes, especially in the second half (the runtime is a quick 80 minutes), had stronger dialogue, and there were some nice moments and small surprises to be found. As is so often the case, less is more, and no scene was more affecting that when Gummer silently tried to change her outfit, frustration mounting as the pain rippled through her body each time clothing brushed against her skin. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/17/15 at 1:54am

Hm. Can't decide if I want to see this, but at 80 mins, I might as well? 

[hork]

Posted: 9/17/15 at 1:55am

I can't read the title without singing it to the tune of "Hungry Like the Wolf."

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/17/15 at 5:44pm

Gummer is terrific but the play is a grab bag of cliches and half-formed ideas. The narrative conceit is rather lazy. At 80 minutes, it felt twice as long. 

[rob136]

Posted: 9/27/15 at 12:53pm

Is it possible to see this show at 1:30pm on a Sunday and make it to a 3pm? At 80 minutes, it seems like it would be as doable as the Fun Home --> Hedwig sprint, but it all depends on whether they tend to start on time or not. Can anyone give a rough idea of when they got out?

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 11:40am

Saw the show over the weekend and found it to be just OK. There really isn't that much to the story and it's nothing that gets explored very deeply. The whole virtual reality thing seemed to be more out of necessitation of changing the set than really lending itself to the story. Speaking of which, I thought the set worked really well and did a lot for the small space they had. Mamie Gummer is good but the rest of the cast is just fine. I honestly would elucidate on it but there isn't really enough there to discuss.

 

I really don't think you could make a 3pm show after this because it would get out at like 2:50 then you have to take an elevator back up to the street level. The Laura Pels Theatre is also kind of on the outskirts being on basically 46th/6th so it's kind of a trek getting back to TSQ through the crowds.