I like when a production company's mission statement says something specific, instead of sticking to the typical vague platitudes that could describe any theatrical endeavor. In the case of Tongue in Cheek Theater Productions, the aim is to be funny.
OK, so they indulge in terms like "universal truths" and "resonate" and so forth…but their purpose—to "make our audiences laugh"—stands out amid the blahs. And for that purpose, their choice of this Adam Bock comedy (which ran at Playwrights Horizons in 2008) is a fine one.
Jake Lipman, Shana Wiersum, Shelley Little in Tongue in Cheek Theater's production of "The Drunken City." Photo by Justin Boykin
Unlike Bock's recent, more ambitious A Small Fire, which started out promisingly and then crashed and burned amid tendentiousness, The Drunken City is fun through and through. An ensemble piece about a group of 20-somethings staggering their inebriated way through the joys and pains of love's labors gained and lost, it gradually zeroes in on Marnie (played sympathetically and surefootedly by Jake Lipman, the company's Artistic Director).
Carousing with her friends after a bachelorette party celebrating her upcoming marriage to a man she's not excited about, Marnie hooks up with Frank (the amusingly elastic A. J. Heekin), a lovelorn stranger out commiserating with his friend Eddie (Michael Gene Conti, a master of the silent reaction). The fallout from this dalliance includes a rift between old friends, a vow of sobriety, and the beginning of a promising if tentative love affair where we didn't expect it. The excellent comic ensemble brings all this into fairly sharp focus with many a laugh and plenty of empathy.
Director Brock H. Hill describes his style as "minimalist" and that's for sure—without scenery or props, save a low platform to sit on, a few beer bottles, and a donut, the comedy rides easily on the physicality of the cast, who, far from looking lost, seem to relish the chance to contain and express Bock's somewhat chaotic story entirely in and via their bodies.
Article comments
1 - BrockHHill
This is Brock H. Hill, you wrote a very nice review of my show, The Drunken City and I wanted to invite you to my next production, Civilization!
Here's a bit about it: Two years ago, Robin - a mild-mannered civil servant - crash-landed on a desert island with five strangers. He wants to get them home to the world they left behind. They want to create a new world on the island, a better world. This is their story.
If you would like to do us the pleasure of attending, let me know and I'll get you a couple of tickets set aside. The show runs Jun 16th-19th and 23rd-26th in Manhattan. 43rd and 8th.
For more info visit this link.
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