Sean McIntyre, Rebecca Moore,
and Daniel Pietruszka
|
The setting is a bedroom in a modest
brownstone in Brooklyn Heights. Here,
long time friends David and Chris, and
the latter's fiancée Elizabeth, three
adolescent Ivy League students on
Christmas break, come into possession of
the only manuscript for a novel by a
noted author who has just died. The
three hatch a plot to plagiarize the
novel (Chris and Elizabeth are both
authors). What ensues is twisty and
powerful. Whether or not you are able to
figure out the road which author Paul
Grellong is taking us down before the
dénouement, you will have a very good
time if you decide to go along for the
ride.
To me, this is an Ivy League play.
David attends Harvard and Chris and
Elizabeth attend Yale, so prepare for de
rigueur Harvard/Boston vs. Yale/New
Haven jokes. More than that, we are
among snobbish Ivy League intellectuals:
Elizabeth (to David): I'm
sure your writing is excellent.
Chris has assured me that he
doesn't have one mediocre
friend.
David: That kind of thing is
important.
Elizabeth: Are you
kidding? It's like checklist
item one for a new
relationship ...
Author Paul Grellong, who studied
playwriting at Brown, captures attitudes
and styles of expression which are
common among the Ivy League archetypes
depicted, and yet are particular to
David, Chris and Elizabeth and their
situation. David is an urban middle
class Jew who is secure in his belief
that his intellectual abilities will
earn him a place among society's elite;
Chris is the legacy student who has
received more money and indulgence than
TLC from his parents; and the
manipulative Elizabeth affects the
facade of the older than her years
sophisticate. While there is more than
enough detail here for characters in any
melodrama, the young ensemble of Daniel
Pietruszka (David), Sean McIntyre
(Chris), and Robin Moore (Elizabeth)
render their characters fully three
dimensional with the verisimilitude and
detail of their performances. Moore gets
more big moments than her on stage
colleagues (and makes the most of them),
but it is the integrated ensemble
performance which makes this production
sizzle. For this, director Mark Spina
deserves unstinting praise.
In the course of watching Manuscript,
the plot seems overly twisty and too
dependent on improbabilities. However,
when all is revealed, there are logical
explanations for it all and such
reservations are proven baseless. A
review of the script reveals that in his
setup, Grellong plays fair in his
misdirection of his audience. N.B.:
There is a bit of strong language here
along with other elements which you may
find makes this play unsuitable for
pre-adolescents. If Manuscript were
rated by the MPAA, it would likely be a
PG-13.
Manuscript continues
performances (Thurs., Fri., Sat. 8 pm;
Sun. 3pm through May 2, 2010 at The
Theater Project at Union County College,
1033 Springfield Avenue, Cranford, NJ
07016. Box Office: 908-659-5189;
on-line: www.thetheaterproject.org.
Manuscript by
Paul Grellong; directed by Mark Spina
Cast
David....................Daniel
Pietruszka
Chris.........................Sean
McIntyre
Elizabeth.................Rebecca Moore
Photo: Courtesy of The Theatre
Project
Be sure to Check the current schedule
for theatre
in New Jersey
- Bob
Rendell |
