I was invited to the press night of "Speaking in Tongues," put on by Cake Productions. The company is putting on the show through most of November 2010 at the New York Theatre Workshop on E.4th in Manhattan.
I enjoyed the performance quite a bit, but I think the choice of plays was not great. First, the title seems to be totally unrelated to the action of the play, as none of the characters really has any trouble understanding what is going on. In fact, we learn throughout the play that many of the characters know quite a bit about what is going on, even though some things are not said. The second half of the play is only marginally connected to the first half, and a lot of the action seems contrived. The genuinely funny bits of the first half that inspired true guffaws in the crowd diminished to grim chuckles by the end. The disjointed, swirling nature of the action made it hard to connect, emotionally, with any of the characters. And by the end, I just didn't care about anyone. I described it kind of like waking up drunk... it seems like you should be having a good time, but you're really just confused and hoping it will wear off soon.
None of this, I think, was the fault of the actors. Just about everyone in the play was very good at their jobs, even juggling the demands of interwoven dialogue as four people speak over each other, sometimes speaking in unison, while two different stories play out. In the second half, the actors took the somewhat vapid, unbelievable script and performed well enough that it was mildly interesting. I found myself falling away from the script and just paying attention to the actors themselves, to find the subtleties of how they worked their parts. Marta Kuersten ("Sarah") did a very good job at telegraphing thoughts and feelings with a shift on the couch or an expectant flick of the eyes.
David Douglas ("Leon") was just wonderful throughout, playing a character somewhere between Don Draper and Jason Bateman in Arrested Development. Funny, emotionally torn at times, and able to switch from boyish bewilderment to crushing self-anguish with no problems. Bryan Kaplan's short, but powerful soliloquy as "Nick" was quite memorable.
I have a feeling I will see more shows by Cake Productions in the future. I think there is a lot of talent in that room. read more