DOWNSTAIRS @ Cherry Lane

[wolfwriter]

Posted: 11/13/18 at 11:55pm

I said Bernhardt/Hamlet was my last Theresa Rebeck play and that she would get no more of my time or money, only to realize that I had already bought a ticket to this static piece of drivel.

Kudos to Tyne and Tim Daly and John Procaccino for almost making this inanity, bearable. Almost.

Does anyone read Theresa Rebeck's plays before they're produced? Tomorrow I'll buy an 18-wheeler to drive through the plot holes in this thing.

It's hard to post coherently about this, since it's so utterly devoid of a point. The short version is that Tim Daly plays Tyne's brother who is briefly staying in her basement after falling on hard times. Tyne's husband is a meanie who wants him gone. That's pretty much it.

Oh, there's plenty of exposition about their Mom, a will and maybe something nefarious with dogs, a "broken" computer, a cell phone.....Oh who the hell cares, Theresa? Nothing you write ever has a freakin' point.

This is an inert exercise and at 1 hour and 52 minutes without intermission, would be excruciating if such a talented cast weren't fun to watch.

John Procaccino as the "meanie" brings a menace to his character that would bring a lot of tension and suspense if anything else was actually happening. Suspense should build and we should feel some sense of dread. Instead, I kept thinking this would be more effective in a better play.

I'd love to go into more detail, but it's all such a mess, like everything else this woman writes.

I don't understand what this exceptionally talented cast saw, that made them want to perform it.

I've never read a Theresa Rebeck play, but maybe they read better than they play on stage. It might explain how this woman continues to get produced.

[Synecdoche2]

Posted: 11/15/18 at 1:33pm

Her plays are unbearably awful without exception. I sympathize with your misfortune.