By David Gordon
Theresa Rebeck’s new play, The Scene, is a sardonic and ridiculously funny morality play which can now be seen off-Broadway. It brilliantly captures and skewers the New York entertainment scene, yet still opens an emotional can of worms that will change the lives of the four characters, all of whom are completely devoid of everything except narcissism.
Charlie (Monk’s Tony Shalhoub) is a middle-age, out-of-work actor searching for meaning in a meaningless culture. His wife, Stella (Everybody Loves Raymond’s Patricia Heaton), unhappily works as a guest-booker for a morning talk show and, since her husband has no job, brings home the bacon. Their loveless marriage revolves around the occasional vodka binge and post-binge sex. Charlie is distraught by the lack of dignity he possesses, whether it’s hearing Stella talk about her paycheck or ordering fish at a luncheon with a friend who orders steak (“It’s girly,” he retorts).
At a rooftop party somewhere in Manhattan, Charlie and his friend Lewis (Christopher Evan Welch) meet Clea (Anna Camp), a sexy, blonde minx. Lewis falls in love (who wouldn’t?) but Charlie is disgusted by her valley girl behavior and misuse of the word “surreal.” Of course not long after, Charlie and Clea begin to have an affair which, as one would assume, ends his marriage and steals whatever dignity he had left.
Heaton and Shalhoub, best known from their television personas, have managed to sell-out most of the show’s run (through mid-February). Shalhoub gives a brilliantly nuanced performance as the actor who is tired of the nothingness that’s left in the world. He delivers an out-of-this-world, expletive-filled monologue against the TV industry that is not soon forgotten. Heaton’s material is less juicy and developed, but she makes the most of it. Though she is still giving a Debra Barone-esque performance, she manages to get away from that stereotype.
Christopher Evan Welch, a familiar New York stage actor, should give a class on how to correctly glare at someone, which he does wonderfully many times during Shalhoub’s monologue. And then there’s Anna Camp, who, with her valley girl vocal patterns (“um, like, what?”), manages to steal the show out from under the three veteran actors. She has the most fully realized character in any entertainment medium today.
Derek McLane’s set, Natasha Katz’s lighting and Jeff Mahshie’s costumes always impress. Rebecca Taichman’s fast-paced direction is perfect. Though Rebeck’s ending is a complete cop-out, it is easily forgiven. You’ll never stop laughing.
