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Weredrowning inGatsbyadaptations, but its hard to match the splendor of Elevator Repair ServicesGatz.
Which is different, he added quickly, from, How can we make this thing into a play?
Central to their work, he said, is the challenge of letting the book be itself.
What does aplaywant to be?
Whether or notUlyssesis substantively its book-self in ERSs staging, theres also a piece of theater being made.
ERScando both, but here, they come up short.
(The line is ultrafine:Gatzis a gloriousreading, and theatrical throughout.)
Shepherd is also the actor ERS shows tend to orbit around.
Its a great effect the first time.
By the third or fourth, its still good.
Then it becomes clear that the production wont ever quite transcend this foundational piece of vocabulary.
Its play, fast-forward, play, fast-forward, straight on through to the end, and its wearying.
Feel live warm beings near you.
Let them sleep in their maggoty beds.
They are not going to get me this innings.
Heres where one runs into those questions about the nature of one form versus another.
And also the grad seminar of your dreams (or nightmares, depending).
Episodes tend to feel similar in weight and tone.
The long first act drags near the finish, its erudition blurring into dramatic monotony.
They make a mess, yes, but a fairly foreseeable one.
What does come across is the smut.
Which is, assuredly, entirely accurate, if not always compelling.
Its a shame, because Hoffman brings both expert precision and tenderness to so much of the speech.
If only, in the convergence of all its parts, the show always tasted as sweet.
Ulyssesis at Bards Fisher Center in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, through July 14.
