At this point in my career I'm often tempted to not even bother praising the actors in Off Off Broadway plays anymore. The talent in this town is bottomless, and no production that's even halfway decent has to settle for actors who aren't deeply skilled. I'll just say this cast can do it all: physical comedy, pathos, subtlety, and giving us the eye (you'll see what I mean).
While many of the characters suggest sketch-comedy inspiration, and some of the jokes are standard-issue (Saturday Night Live famously spoofed the New York City subway's unintelligible public address system a generation ago), somehow that doesn't make them less funny. Janssen-Faith and McGowan aren't trying to reinvent the screeching steel subway wheel here. They're using the microcosmos of the underground train to make us look closely at ourselves - and to laugh at what we see, which may be what we need the most.
Coffee Cup (a theatre co.) presents Standing Clear at The Access Theater, 380 Broadway, 4th floor (no elevator), through June 21. Reservations through Smarttix or call (212) 868-4444.
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