The Vessel Off-Broadway Reviews

The three young actors are ideal to portray their characters. Their performances are vibrant and real. The troupe includes Will Ingram as Viggo, the newest teenage hire who recently moved from Utah; Anastasia Locke as Missy who appears to be optimi...

The three young actors are ideal to portray their characters. Their performances are vibrant and real. The troupe includes Will Ingram as Viggo, the newest teenage hire who recently moved from Utah; Anastasia Locke as Missy who appears to be optimistic and dedicated to her job; and Sofonyas as Drake who makes every effort to be considerate and is knowledgeable about a plethora of subjects. The play is well developed through the discourse that occurs between Viggo, Missy and Drake as they navigate their job and their own lives.

Respect for the dead, and for the people who lost them, is an element that “The Vessel,” at 59E59 Theaters, gets very right. Directed by Peter Charney, this play is not looking to exploit tragedy or to depict suicide. Rather, it is interested in ...

Respect for the dead, and for the people who lost them, is an element that “The Vessel,” at 59E59 Theaters, gets very right. Directed by Peter Charney, this play is not looking to exploit tragedy or to depict suicide. Rather, it is interested in the devastation to witnesses and bystanders when preventable deaths occur in public spaces.

But one leaves “The Vessel” with the impression that the playwright felt required to put together a 90-minute play, but didn’t know how to fill it. So we get Viggo awkwardly flirting with Missy, which goes nowhere, and dissertations on dolphins...

But one leaves “The Vessel” with the impression that the playwright felt required to put together a 90-minute play, but didn’t know how to fill it. So we get Viggo awkwardly flirting with Missy, which goes nowhere, and dissertations on dolphins, and on how pasture-raised chickens are better than merely cage-free chickens, and various long rants, and moments of stunned silence that are meant to be poignant. Only the one-named Sofonyas has the acting chops consistently to make the best of these digressions.