The National Theatre of Scotland never fails to deliver. The two previous shows were at St. Ann's Warehouse: the award-winning "Black Watch" about a troupe of soldiers in Afghanistan and "Let the Right One In" a theatrical adaptation of the very successful film of the same name about a child vampire looking for connection. The current production, "The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart," is much looser as presented at the McKittrick Hotel in Chelsea, home to "Sleep No More." We meet in the bar of the hotel, sitting comfortably in groups at tables and plied with free shots of Scotch. And at intermission, when I was feeling weak from hunger having not had a proper lunch, tea sandwiches were served. The play takes place, in and around the audience and bar, at an academic conference in Scotland. Prudencia Hart is to deliver her paper on the Devil as portrayed in Scottish ballads but instead comes face to face with him. Its clever and fun and takes the mickey out of academic theorists. Plus, free booze.
"Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812" ,however, did not deliver for me. I haven't read "War and Peace" the big Russian novel by Tolstoy on which it was based but have always assumed it to be deep and tragic. "Natasha, Pierre..." cannot make this claim. The play, as conceived by Dave Malloy and directed by the current New York theatre darling Rachel Chavkin, is a silly circus act operetta. Josh Groban was absent on the day I went but I can't imagine that his Pierre would have upped the action much. This production was originally mounted by Ars Nova but I much preferred their "Futurity," a musical collaboration with Soho Rep about the imagined correspondence between Ada Lovelace and a Civil War Soldier. While that production did not lack for originality, "Natasha, Pierre ..." draws heavily on "Candide." The ensemble though is particularly good and one performance stood out for me, that of Lucas Steele as the rascal Anatole.
"Finian's Rainbow" at the Irish Rep was an especially appropriate musical to mount in this past election year, the subject being racism in America. Too bad the postage stamp sized stage in the newly renovated theatre on West 22nd was too small for such a grand production. Singing yes, but where were they supposed to dance? Melissa Errico has a gorgeous voice but was perhaps a bit long in the tooth for Sharon. Charlotte Moore did a fine job directing the excellent cast and the score by Yip Harburg and Burton Lane is to die for but the Choreographer Barry McNabb had an insurmountable task given the size of the stage.
And, finally, "The Encounter" written, directed and performed by Simon McBurney. I wanted to love it. I really did. I put on my headphones and was ready for the encounter. And the set-up was splendid. We meet McBurney at his home in London and start with putting on the set of earphones attached to our seat. He gives us a lesson in how the earphones are going to work at the same time as he repeatedly tries to put his young daughter to bed. This is actually really entertaining and surprisingly engrossing. Unfortunately once in the story he is telling, that of a Western explorer lost in the Amazon rain forest, starts in ernest, everything begins to go in slo-mo. I was in snooze land by the time our hero is rescued and McBurney can go to bed (or convince his young daughter to at least).
Best of 2016: Sarah DeLappe's "The Wolves" at the Duke
Simon Stephen's "Heisenberg" on Broadway
Cesar Alvarez's "Futurity" Ars Nova
Clare Barron's "I'll Never Love Again" at the Bushwick Starr
Honorable Mentions: Adam Bock's "A Life" at Playwright's Horizons
The National Theatre of Scotland's "The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart" at the McKittrick Hotel
Overhyped: Bess Wohl's "Small Mouth Sounds" at Signature
Dave Malloy's "Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812" on Broadway
Worst of 2016: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' "War" at the Claire Tow Theatre Lincoln Center
Alice Birch's "Revolt, She Said" at Soho Rep
The Bard's "The Winter's Tale" at BAM
