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A CurtainUp DC Review
Dying City
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"If you really care about the truth, you can’t just speak to your own tiny group, you have to figure out how to speak to the community."—Peter "The community?"—Kelly "People who may not be like you but that you still have something in common with. A basic humanity. . ."— Peter |
Thomas Keegan as Peter (Photo by Scott Suchman)
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The title of the three-character play (performed by two actors) refers to a god-forsaken place in Iraq where a soldier named Craig has died. His identical twin brother Peter, an actor, is alive and well. He’s egocentric, gay, self-destructive and, ironically, performing in Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Craig’s widow, Kelly, a psychologist, completes the triangle.
All three characters are dealing with the real or perceived slights of childhood. Daniel Conway’s set for Kelly’s New York apartment, with a kitchen on one side of the living room and, on the other, two doors, through which Craig goes out and Peter comes in – and vice versa.
Thomas Keegan, the actor who plays both Peter and Craig, is an imposing figure. Very tall and with a booming voice, he exudes physical power as the husband and vulnerability as the actor. A graduate of the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting, Keegan is a welcome addition to Washington stages. I look forward to seeing more of his work in a script worthy of his talent.
Rachel Zampelli as Kelly, the grieving widow who is trying to literally move on, is strangely unaffecting. She should be a sympathetic character; instead, she comes over, for most of the play, as emotionally numb.
Director Matthew Gardiner steers his actors through flashbacks and the script which covers among other topics: a death that isn’t what it seems. . . 9/11. . . grief. . . post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological theories. . . famous authors. . . how obsessions with food have replaced sex. . . having a baby. . . gay sex. . . the truth, provided via e-mail messages from brother to brother prior to the soldier’s death in Iraq.
Stir the one-liners and 65 minutes later the play ends, having made its revelations with some confusion and not much depth. There’s even a reference to the formula for scripts written for Law and Order. Maybe Shinn’s writing really belongs on television — a medium better suited to drama that has less use for plot and characterization — than live theater.
Editor's Note: While I was somewhat more enthusiastic about the original, longer, version of the play, I too wasn't totally smitten. To read that review which also contains links to other Shinn plays Curtainup has reviewed go here.
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Dying City by Christopher Shnn Director, Matthew Gardiner Scenic Design, Daniel Conway Costume Design, Frank Labovitz Lighting Design, Colin K. Bills Cast: Thomas Keegan (Peter/Craig), Rachel Zampelli (Kelly). Running time: 65 minutes, no intermission. From 10/02/12; closing 11/25/12. Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, Virginia 22206. Box office, 703-820-9771; administration, 571-527-1860. < Review by Susan Davidson based on October 7, 2012 performance. REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
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