Clever Becky Shaw at Huntington Theatre Co.

By Gina Gionfriddo

Directed by Peter DuBois (the Artistic Director of the Huntington Theatre Company)

At The Boston University Theatre

The Huntington Theatre Company

264 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115

2 Hours and 10 minutes with one Intermission

March 5-April 4, 2010

617-266-0800

Stage Manager is Carola Morrone

Family and personal relationships can certainly become overly complicated. Using interesting twists on psychology, humor and cultural influences, Gina Gionfriddo's clever, sometimes laugh out loud Becky Shaw tells a layered, contemporary story of disfunctional families, damaged individuals, and the problems of couples staying connected during the 21st Century. This is a play about behavior that  is mostly bad. But, it is a story humorously unfolded that somehow touches us while often tickling our funny bone.

Mother Susan and daughter Suzanna have major conflicts over the estate and the memory of their deceased husband and father. The inept mediator is Max, an edgy member of the family. Unresolved feelings and bad business by the departed are left unresolved. About a year later, newly weds Suzanna and Andrew eagerly put together a blind date for Suzanna's previously seen, lifelong best friend/adopted brother, the blunt, often outrageous investment manager Max. He is matched with Andrew's down-trodden, romantically and seemingly life challenged fragile co-worker, Becky. Of course good intentions go terribly wrong. The blind date goes well beyond badly. 

The situation is further complicated by the neediness of this Becky Shaw, the disdainful behavior of Max, and the mixed loyalties of Andrew and Suzanna.  The couple is forced to confront the instability of their marriage. This is made apparent by Suzanna's mother's always acidic but often clear vision of the actual reality of the family. Comedy helps to underscore shifts in morality and various crisis, while humor makes the story palatable and even thought-provokingly enjoyable. 

This is a play about serious subjects class, sex, race, money, deceit and morality played for laughs. Always sharp-witted, the laughing provoked can soothe the pain. Wonderful phrases and great lines pepper the dialogue. There is a particularly good one about admissions to Brown University. Becky Shaw is also about the formal or informal transactional nature of human relationships. It makes us consider what we owe the people we love versus what we are willing to do for virtual strangers. Intelligent phrasing, great character rhythm, and smart comedic expressions keep the narrative together and moving, both emotionally and through time. 

The acting company is a joy to behold. All of the five actors perform well. The timing is choreographed humor. Particularly strong are the edgy, outspoken Max played with energy and believability by Seth Fisher and the seemingly mommy dearest Susan played by Maureen Anderman. They each put the "dis" into disfunctional. She often steals the show as the caustic and self-assured mother in the tradition of dramatic grand dames gone bad. Max is a bit Ari Gold and a tad Don Rickles. His anger is not as pointed or too obvious as his smart mouth often is. The audience waits for his next barbed outburst, bloody metaphor and attack question. He is clearly damaged but quick, cutting and funny. Each of these two strongly fashioned characters is actually likable in spite of themselves. This is a tribute to each of the actor's skills and the playwright's inspiration.

Playwright Gina Gionfriddo  had a lot of fun writing this show. There is a sassy sometimes brassy quality to it, a patina of droll angst. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Becky Shaw, which had its world premiere at Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays. Its New York premiere was Off Broadway at Second Stage Theatre. Her other plays include After Ashley, U.S. Drag, Guinevere and the one-acts Squalor and America's Got Tragedy. 

She has received an OBIE Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and the Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights. She has written for television programs "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Cold Case," and the upcoming "The Borgias." A graduate of the M.F.A. Play-writing Program at Brown University. She has taught writing at Brown, Providence College, and Rhode Island College. 
 
Director Peter DuBois is now in his second year as Artistic Director of the Huntington Theatre Company. This season he will also direct Craig Lucas' Prelude to a Kiss. Previously, he directed the world premiere of David Grimm's The Miracle at Naples. He directed the acclaimed world premiere (Actors Theater of Louisville, Humana Festival of New American Plays) and New York premiere (Second Stage Theatre) productions of Becky Shaw. DuBois's direction of this Huntington production of Becky Shaw is masterful and even humorously elegant.

If there is a weakness in the play it's the lack of a clear ending. It has a great and even sexy beginning, a challenging and at times laugh out loud middle, but a rather weak, unresolved, nondirectional ending. Continual conflict is suggested. But is this a theatrical outcome that is acceptable? Rules are made, and people break them. Conflict always continues. This seems to be the vague suggestion at the end of the play. In spite of this, Becky Shaw is a smartly written, humorous, sometimes hilarious play that should be seen and enjoyed. This is entertainment as it should be: original, intelligent and humorously disconcerting. Gina Gionfriddo is a playwright to be reckoned with, her future should be very bright and extremely funny.