Terrence McNally’s “It’s Only A Play“ is now being presented at the Southampton Cultural Center. This witty and thoroughly entertaining show, directed by Bob Kaplan and produced by Bonnie Grice and “her boots on the ground theater,“ had the audience laughing and having a great theater experience right from the start. The show runs until November 3rd at the SCC, located in Southampton Village.
Once again, Director Bob Kaplan displays his theatrical chess master prowess, moving and positioning his actors around the stage for optimal effect. Everyone in the cast was excellent! However, Huck Hirsch went beyond excellent in his role as Frank Finger. Mr. Hirsch gives a performance you will remember forever. His physical acting propels the show into that rare orbit of a show that is, in fact, a successful physical comedy satire. There are so many tongue-in-cheek zinger lines, and one has to think that playwright Terrence McNally had to be in an extraordinary, unusual place mentally when he wrote this play about an opening night party waiting for the play reviews to come in. Some of the lines he has his characters projecting out to the audience are phenomenal show-stoppers. Mr. Hirsch received a showstopping applause after dramatizing one of his.
The glue that holds together any “boots on the ground theater“ production is always the company’s founder, Bonnie Grice. Her iconic east-end personality shines through within her role as Virginia Noyes, a former Oscar-winning actress who is on the backside of her career. Grice, who knows how to command a stage, be heard, and understood, delivers a fantastic array of bullet-like McNally lines in her distinct voice that produces many belly laughs and even some comical audience groans. This role is yet another feather in her cap.
Matthew O’Conner, as TV actor James Wicker, is solid gold; he shines and glows that true in his role. By the show’s end, it seemed the whole audience wanted to bring this new friend out somewhere for a cocktail. His forceful presence and gravitas were obvious when he commandingly stepped onto the stage and delivered his first line.
Gillian Schroeder delivers as play producer and financial wizard Julia Budder. She enchants the audience with the language one hears at almost every Hamptons party all summer and in the New York City theater district all year round. Her persona, appearance, and presentation are dead on.
Phil Eberhardt plays “Ira Drew, a reviewer“ in a sophisticated, cutting, satirically glowing manner. He elegantly delivers some outlandishly clever zingers most effectively and looks fantastic and comfortably at home in his tuxedo.
As Gus P. Head, Brandon Richard Battiste lights up the stage with the enthusiasm of youth, promise, and a bright future as his role entices. Perhaps everyone has had moments like the character Mr. Battiste portrays in this production in their own lives. That and his performance are why the audience loved him.
I saved the critique of the performance of Eileen Trille as playwright Patricia Austin for the end for a good reason. It is in her very lines that the actual playwright Terrence McNally pours out his soul, and Ms. Austin did this so most brilliantly. Anyone who has sat before a keyboard and composed dialogue knows the spiritual nature of such actions. The torture of waiting for approval and the defiance of believing in the words that come out at the end of the effort is a connection to a vein of energy that runs in the air like a river. Ms. Trille understood Mr. McNally’s words about playwrighting. Ms. Trille most effectively preached to the audience the true naked exposure any writer of anything experiences eventually. Trille’s ability to look right into the eyes of everyone in the audience was spellbound. She was sympathetically effective and powerful yet vulnerable.
To the seasoned theater dweller, this show, “It’s Only A Play,“ is a must. It is so poignant on so many levels it must be experienced live, as it is now available until November 3rd at the SCC. For ticket information etc., visit https://scc-arts.org.
