I was out of town when Jeff Cohen's Worth Street Theatre mounted the New York premiere of Christopher Shinn's Four, set in his home town and written when he was twenty-three years old. The play has now been given a second New York life under the auspices of Manhattan Theatre Club. Mr. Cohen again directing. The MTC's Stage II is small enough to retain the intimacy of the downtown production but affords Mr. Cohen a chance to give the play an airier feel than was possible in his miniscule downtown space.

Louisa Whitlock's review (below this re-review) provides a sufficiently detailed summary of what Four is about, so I'll simply add some impressions of my own. I'll begin with the performances since Mr. Shinn's play is, above all, a gift to actors. Three of the four original cast members were fortunately available to reprise the parts in which they already distinguished themselves. With Pascale Armand, now playing Abigayle this Four is truly a 4-star ensemble.

The playwright's spare dialogue blazes with the richness and individuality with which each of the foursome speaks. Abigayle (Armand) is sharp-tongued and smart, which prompts the better at basketball than academics Dexter (Armando Riesco) to declare "I talk like I'm black, you talk like you a white girl.". June (Keith Nobbs, who has the juiciest role but an unnecessarily silly name) speaks in a voice that embodies his tentativeness about his untested homosexuality. Joe's (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) booming bass baritone gives a ring of confidence to his pronouncements of wisdom that is shadowed by his own duplicitous double life. But it is the facial expressions and gestures that bring out the color and richness of Shinn's spare and authentic dialogue. Mr. Nobbs, especially, speaks volumes with his body language, scratching and hugging himself repeatedly in a vain effort to hide his tension -- and his eagerness. It is theater at its most riveting to watch this awkward boy (as well as the fidgety Abigayle) finally take the lead in this double game of sexual hide and seek.

Besides the classic references to the influences on modern American thought to which Louisa alluded in her review, the parallel relationships unfolding with an edgy sweetness on a Fourth of July evening also evokes a warm, old-fashioned Americana flavor. Not that this is an old-fashioned play. Except for the never out-of-fashion loneliness and fear of moving into unexplored territory which drives all the characters, the night of sexual fireworks, which includes an interracial, boy-meets-man on the internet date, is as up-to-date as the latest edition of Microsoft's Windows.

Jeff Cohen directs the shifts between the two couples with utmost fluidity and the sexual scenes with discreet frankness. His original design team has beautifully adapted the bare bones staging and subtle lighting to the thrust stage of this venue. The simplicity of the several raised cubes and ramp with minimal props seem ideally suited to the scenes which often play out in places as lonely and isolated as the characters. Not having heard the original incidental music, I can only say that David Van Tieghem's work enhances the overall mood immeasurably. Even the Playbill cover's four awkwardly angled and paired hangers echo the overall attunement of script, acting and staging.

Since the ensemble so beautifully captures the loneliness and fears of Abigayle, Dexter, Joe and June, Mr. Shinn hardly needed the unseen fifth character (Abigayle's mysteriously sick mother) as a metaphor for the crippling effects of giving in to fear of facing the unknown. This one overdose of symbolism, notwithstanding, Four is an enjoyable, emotionally stirring play. It may, as Louisa Whitfield put it, fall short of being a " great achievement intellectually", but it is the sort of astutely written script that brings out the best in actors. Its playwright is young, gifted and prolific enough (Shinn has written a number of other plays) to write more and ever better plays -- maybe even a great one.

Production Notes for Four produced by Manhattan Theatre Club in association with The Worth Street Theatre Company
Playwright: Christopher Shinn
Director: Jeff Cohen Cast: Pascale Armand,Keith Nobbs, Armando Riesco and Isiah Whitlock, Jr.
Set Design: Lauren Helpern
Lighting Design: Traci Klainer

Costume Design: Veronica Worts
Sound Design: Paul Adams
Original Music: David Van Tieghem
Manhattan Theatre Club Stage II at City Center, 131 West 55th St. (6th/7th Aves) 212/ 581-1212. MTC website.
From
January 29, 2002; opening February 19, 2002. Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM, with matinees on Saturdays at 3:00 PM. Sunday Performances are at 3:00 PM and 7:30 PM - $45.
Review by Elyse Sommer based on February 17th press preview.