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We dont get to see it very often, or for very long, but we know its there.
Its an elegant surprise, and its a shameManahattaas a whole never feels as graceful as this gesture.
Theres a stodgy quality to the play, a mantle of self-seriousness it refuses to shed.
Underneath this bulky garment, its characters gasp for air.
By sharing our stories, were educating a non-Native audience.
And as soon as they start learning something, then its educational its not art.
The problem is that edification isnt in and of itself dramatic or even necessarily nuanced.
So it is withManahatta.
King also plays Dick Fuld, a version of Lehmansreal-life CEOat the time of the global financial crisis.
He too hulks and leers, shouts abuse and glorifies greed.
But what of these human beings?
What are their nooks and crannies and crevices, their contradictions and eccentricities and messy desires?
Who are they when theyre not conveying themes?
Nagles overt rhymes push her characters toward archetype, leaving little room for vitality or ambiguity.
At the same time, it doesnt help that much ofManahattas dialogue is stiff and hackneyed.
People consistently say pretty much what we expect them to.
Shut the fuck up and bring me some Starbucks, bellows Dick.
Thats the problem with your generation, says Janes mother, Bobbie (Tousey).
Ya got no idea where you came from.
A long time ago.
And no one, not even Daddy, could convince you to come back.
Overfamiliar writing like this, however earnest, doesnt introduce us to fascinating people; it confirms narrative tropes.
Even the unapologetically ambitious Jane, who offers the plays most potential for flawed complexity, remains frustratingly thin.
(This is a sign that shes becoming scarily like a white lady.)
The forest recedes behind the mirror.
The outline remains empty.
The blood doesnt stick.
There is an unmistakable ethical stand being taken inLife & Times of Michael K, an adaptation of J.M.
ButMichael Kis an exemplar of media complementing message.
The bio given in the shows playbill for Coetzee, a Nobel Prize winner, says, J.M.
Coetzee is an environmentalist.
How can a puppet an object so obviously controlled by others become a symbol of independence?
asks Basil Jones,Michael Ks copuppetry director, in a note in the shows program.
Michael is the result of their deep craftsmanship and their free self-sublimation.
He is also, at times and this is a delightful innovation of the production their friend.
Its a lovelylazzo,and more broadly, it adds to the humanity of the production.
