In Gary, Taylor Mac's singular world view intersects with Shakespeare's first tragedy, Titus Andronicus. In Mac's extraordinary new play, set during the fall of the Roman Empire, the years of bloody battles are over. The civil war has ended. The country has been stolen by madmen, and there are casualties everywhere. And two very lowly servants are charged with cleaning up the bodies. It's only 400 B.C. - but it feels like the end of the world.
Lane is quite spectacularly good here - he's in deeper than I've ever seen him, and I've been watching him for years. He's more vulnerable, too. His ambition - to be the fool, the kind of Stephen Colbert-like figure who speaks truth to power, rather than the clown guy who only offers non-ideological escape - is what drives this performance, remarkable in all kinds of ways.
Ultimately, it's 95 minutes of weirdness and somehow not as funny as you want it to be. While tempting, it's not right to blame the last-minute cast shuffle brought on when an injury forced Andrea Martin to drop out. The real problem is that the genius of Mac (a MacArthur grant recipient and Pulitzer Prize finalist) gets lost in a tsunami of full-frontal distractions, pie-in-the-face slapstick and anachronistic baby shark gags. Gary himself makes the perfect point. 'You can't see anything,' he says, 'but its ridiculousness.'
2019 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2019 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Wig and Hair Design | Campbell Young Associates |
2019 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Julie White |
2019 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Ann Roth |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | George C. Wolfe |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Jules Fisher |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Kristine Nielsen |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Julie White |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Taylor Mac |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Santo Loquasto |
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