Karoline Fischer

Over halfway through DECONSTRUCTION, Jonathan Leaf's remarkable play about Paul De Man, Mary McCarthy (Fleur Alys Dobbins) tells Hannah Arendt (Karoline Fischer) that she sees no morality 'worthy of the name' in the philosophy of Martin Heidegger. 'There's a need to find authenticity,' McCarthy concedes, 'But it seems to me that you can be genuinely and perfectly evil.' However one feels about deconstruction as a method of reading--I happen to be a fan--we should all agree that De Man was a bad guy: a thoroughgoing liar, a bigamist, a swindler, a manipulator, and the author of some 200 pieces for the Nazi publication in Belgium, Le Soir. I've lingered over this literary-historical context (ironic, given that deconstruction deemphasizes extra-textual material, including authorial intent) because while Leaf's play works beautifully as a story about the (alleged) affair between De Man and McCarthy, the play's real triumph is how deftly it evokes the intellectual minefields on which these personal relationships developed. DECONSTRUCTION is far better, to say nothing of smarter, than most of the ideologically-driven caricatures of the play suggest. This is all the more remarkable given the play runs a mere 75 minutes.

The Storm Theatre, in association with Christopher Ekstrom Productions, kicks off its 20th anniversary season with the world premiere of 'Deconstruction,' by Jonathan Leaf. The historically-inspired play directed by Storm Artistic Director Peter Dobbins, runs Mar. 3 - Mar. 25, Grand Hall (at St. Mary's Parish), 440 Grand Street, New York, NY 10002, for 16 performances. Tickets are on sale now for $25 and can be purchased at SmartTix at 212-868-4444 or www.smarttix.com.

The Storm Theatre, in association with Christopher Ekstrom Productions, kicks off its 20th anniversary season with the world premiere of 'Deconstruction,' by Jonathan Leaf.

The Storm Theatre, in association with Christopher Ekstrom Productions, kicks off its 20th anniversary season with the world premiere of 'Deconstruction,' by Jonathan Leaf. The historically-inspired play directed by Storm Artistic Director Peter Dobbins, runs Mar. 3 - Mar. 25, Grand Hall (at St. Mary's Parish), 440 Grand Street, New York, NY 10002, for 16 performances. Tickets are on sale now for $25 and can be purchased at SmartTix at 212-868-4444 or www.smarttix.com.

Vanity continues at Merseles Studios in Jersey City with L'Image, an evening of one-act plays by George Cameron Grant assembled exclusively for this thematic series by Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC). This full-theater production runs for two consecutive weekends and is a collaboration between Aqueduct Productions, a theatre company founded by Grant, and JCTC.