BWW Reviews: Fine Performances Fill 2nd Story's Uninspired SEMINAR

It may be something rare when a theater company is able to utilize its two performances spaces at the same time to feature two plays which are extremely similar yet completely different in important ways. Two plays that deal with similar issues and in a sense tell the same story, or kind of story, but execute that story with vastly differing results. Such is the case at 2nd Story Theatre in Warren, where the current production in the UpStage space, Seminar, bares a striking resemblance to the just-closed production that played in the DownStage space, Collected Stories.

While Collected Stories was a finely crafted study of two nuanced and textured characters, Seminar is the exact opposite. This play, written by Theresa Rebeck, doesn't even begin to scratch beneath any surfaces as it deals with four writers who are participating in a writing seminar with a well-known, past-his-prime writer of fiction. As the seminar progresses over the course of a number of weeks, we begin to see conflicts arise as the egos, insecurities, passions, dreams and failures of the writers, young and old, tumble together and clash.

The end result, though, is unfortunately nowhere near as dramatic or exciting as that may sound. Rebeck just doesn't take any of this anywhere, at least not anywhere new or original. The problems that arise, from bruised egos to unethical student/teacher relations, have all been done and done to death. While Rebeck certainly has a fine grasp of language and its usage, and a great ability to create dialogue that sounds like how writers probably talk to each other, she never uses her talents to really grab or engage the audience. Yes, there are some wonderfully witty moments and a few funny lines, but there's very little to make the audience really sit up and take notice.

Additionally, not one of the characters has any kind of real depth or development, no backstory or history is ever really revealed, and none of them come away as sympathetic or even all that likeable. They're all so one-note and similar, they are basically interchangeable, all with the same exact character description, "a writer," and little more. The whole play boils down to "writers sitting around talking about writer problems," which may be rather boring to anyone who's not a writer or not interested in the lives of writers.

For this production, 2nd Story returned its UpStage space to its original configuration, as theatre-in-the-round. Truthfully, this was my first time ever seing a show there with that particular kind of stage setup and it works really well. Director Pat Hegnauer demonstrates an excellent awareness and skill when it comes to staging a play in-the-round, which can often be very difficult. She keeps the actors staged so they don't have their backs to many audience members, or only do so for short periods of time. And she moves things around, so that audience members don't feel like they are missing out on what's going on. While her blocking is excellent, it would have been helpful if she had worked with the actors to develop more emotional depth to their characters, especially in the few moments when it was really called for but noticeably lacking.

Rebeck's script makes it difficult to say who is really the primary focus of the play, or the main protagonist. Competing for that title are two characters, Martin, played here by Ara Boghigian, and Kate, played by Erin Elliott. Boghigian is always excellent and this role really allows him to use his considerable charm and charisma. He creates a character who comes the closest to being complex and nuanced, throwing out snarky sarcastic remarks one moment and showing an insecure vulnerability the next. Elliot is always great fun to watch and she doesn't dissapoint here. As Kate, she wonderfully brings a believable energy and life to a character that isn't written particularly well and does some things that the writer really could have handled better. The moments on stage between these two actors are the highlights of the play, thanks largely to their fantastic chemistry. It was a credit to their talent that during one scene together they had their backs to me but just by their body language alone, I could perfectly discern what their characters were thinking and feeling.

The other two students in the class are Douglas, played by James Lucey, and Izzy, played by Tania Montenegro. Both are pretty shallow, cardboard-cutout characters who are never given any real development in the script. Lucey does a nice job with Douglas, a writer who is mostly just "the arrogant one." Montenegro is unfortunately given the worst, and most poorly written, role in the play, basically, "the wild/crazy one" or "the sexy one," but does have plenty of charisma and a few nice acting moments. Rounding out the cast is Ed Shea as Leonard, the writer/teacher who is the same exact character you have seen a million times, a combination of Michael Keaton's burned out actor in the movie Birdman and J.K. Simmons' brutal jazz teacher in the movie Whiplash. While the character is just a cliche, Shea still does a nice job with it and gives it as much flair and charisma as he can.

It's too bad that the DownStage production has closed, it would be interesting to see a double-bill of Collected Stories and Seminar, one right after the other, to compare the two. It arguably may be unfair to compare the two, but it's hard to resist since they are so similar in theme and subject matter. It's just too bad that even with some excellent performances, specificallly from Boghigian and Elliott, Seminar can't compare to its far superior recent downstairs neighbor.

Seminar runs through February 22nd in the UpStage space at 2nd Story Theatre, 28 Market Street, Warren, RI. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 and Sundays at 2:30. Tickets are $30 or $21 for ages 21 and under. Tickets may be purchased by visiting the box office, calling 401-247-4200 or through the webiste, www.2ndstorytheatre.com.

Pictured (L to R): Tania Montenegro and Ara Boghigian. Photo by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.

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