Awake and Sing at the Belasco Theatre – Lincoln Center Theatre Production

I had more questions about this production than I had comments. To me one of the major problems with this production is that in the course of viewing it the questions are raised one after the other which led to no suspension of disbelief. I’d really love it if some of this kind of information were carried in the program notes somewhere in the Playbill.
For starters a little bit about the play which was written by Clifford Odets (1906-1963) in 1934. It originally opened February 19, 1935 at the Belasco for 120 performances. At the time the original staging by the Group Theatre participants using an American adaptation of Stanislavsky methods made the play revolutionary. That was then. The play is about a Russian émigré Jewish family living in NYC during the time of the Great Depression and hanging on just barely. Events shred away layers and expose the various characters flaws and also subsequent developments. The artifice used here in the 3rd act of having most of the characters experience life changing revelations (and then change their lives) seems both trite and childish. As did the artifice used by the set designer; Michael Yeargan. Bit by bit the set disappears; rises to the rafters, sinks into the stage. You get the idea; the walls between the characters disappear as the walls inside the characters disappear as (yup you guessed it) the actual walls of the set disappear! Please. Granted it was beautifully executed on a technical level but how obvious can you get. If Mr Yeargan is responsible for this idea is he thinking that the theatre going public is so dense that they need to observe a physical metaphor for the character development? I had trouble not laughing at this artifice once I realized that somewhere a grip had not made a mistake by not lowering one of the curtains and lowering one of the walls…
Next to the lighting: the first to acts cast huge shadows of the actors onto the walls of the set. They do not come from the ambient street light or sunlight from the one window or from the lamps or the chandelier over the dining room table but appear to be inspired by a H.S. media club geek let loose with a spot in the back of the auditorium. Whatever this was trying to accomplish I didn’t get it. If it was a metaphor of the ‘shadows’ our actions cast…..well…..sorry, I had to pause ‘cause I just had a little vomit in my mouth. Again no suspension of disbelief. Is this a new trend the Lincoln Center Theater is trying to start? ‘Come to the theatre but feel like you’ve never left home or for that matter actually been to the theatre…’ The lighting designer Christopher Akerlind is very talented with many credits to his resume including The Light in the Piazza which was brilliant. Again what were you thinking and what was the point? Program notes would help.
Zoe Wanamaker was brilliant as Bessie Berger. Ben Gazzara (who is a highly accomplished actor and has been brilliant in many play, films, television) desperately needed a voice coach. There was nothing about the accent he is ‘using’ that said Russian, Jewish, or Grandpa. Actually is did seem like he was trying really hard to speak broken English which again; no suspension of disbelief. I was watching someone ‘acting’. Lauren Ambrose probably best know for playing the daughter in 6 Feet Under was adequate but her tortured transition from manipulated victim to champion of her destiny was not believable but that likely was the directors call. Too bad. She did look really, really lovely throughout even while being surly. Pablo Schreiber who played Ralph Berger the son really held it up as an idealistic and enthusiastic youth swimming in the bitter world of adults who have lost all sense of illusion, compassion, and in some cases morals. Difficult to play the male ingénue with such conviction and he did a good job. Mark Ruffalo reprised the role played by Walter Mattheu in the television version of the one legged embittered returning war vet with great ease. His character as the boarder living with the family is one that does not go through an enormous transition but rather grows into an understanding of what and who he needs in order to have a successful life which was most believably played by Mr. Ruffalo. Plus his prosthetic leg was really great and one truly pictured a stump of thigh fitting into it. The rest of the supporting cast was, well, supportive.
Most of all I’d love to know why the Lincoln Center Theatre chose this for one of the season’s pieces.