SEARCH
REVIEWS
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
On TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us
A CurtainUp Review
On the Line
| Together we were like some miracle alloy that couldn't be broken. We had this unity. This unstoppable force, like a waterfull. You just had to watch it and hop. --- Jimmy |
David Prete, John Zibell, and Joe Roland in On The Line
(Photo: Joan Marcus) |
With playwright Clifford Odets' working class family saga, Awake and Sing, currently being revived on Broadway, On the Line seems a timely link to the agitprop writer since its plot pivot is a strike at a manufacturing plant that drives a wedge between three tightly bonded men even before it sends the entire town into a state of upheaval. While the strike theme that drives On the Line forward is sure to remind those familiar with Odets famous Waiting for Lefty, about a real 1934 cab drivers' strike. Others might recall Strife about a long lasting coal strike written by John Galsworthy now remembered mostly for his Forsythe Saga.
At any rate, the strike in Roland's unspecific anywhere USA town is indeed critical to taking Dev (Roland), Mikey (David Prete) and Jimmy (John Zibell) from A to B to C -- A: shared diner breakfast, welding parts of the unspecified product their factory employer manufactures, and after work beer drinking. B: a strike to retain medical benefits breaks up their comfortable guy routine and friendship. C: The strike ends and the three friends must deal with their changed work lives and the painful rift in the three-way friendship.
And so, while someone is bound to come along to write a play that takes a more measured look at the death of American factories and the new Walmart economy, Roland is no born-again agit-prop playwright. The strike that overhangs his play is a means for getting at his major theme about the value and power of friendship. His dialogue for Dev's opening monologue, and the three-way memories of the friendship's beginning when they were seven, shows Roland less bent on being a budding theatrical social conscience than to channel the f-ing, tough guy world of David Mamet.
Under Peter Sampieri's gently laid back direction, the camaraderie between the three men, now in their early thirties, comes across as genuine. Dev's opening declaration that these friends and this way of life give him a daily sense of belonging ("Every morning I get up. I know who I am. . . I fit. Everything about me fits") has considerable resonance. Still, one can't help wondering about parents and sisters who are part of life in these small town comfort zones. There's also the niggling thought that Jimmy's having gone to college and Mikey showing a strong interest in getting on in life might not have eventually broken up the three musketeers solidarity anyway.
The set-up of having Mikey take the management job to have someone from the ranks representing the bosses to the strikers, making Jimmy the union manager and leaving Dev hunkered down with the rebellious strikers is a bit facile, but it works. With a somewhat more detailed set, a few plot strands strengthened and a try at having Dev make his big emotional leap less obvious, On the Line might just be on the road towards numerous small town productions.
| ON THE LINE Playwright: Joseph Roland Directed by Peter Sampieri Cast: Joe Roland, John Zibell, David Prete Set Design: Michael McGarty Costume Stylist: Robin L. McGee Lighting Design: Brian J. Lilienthal Sound Design: Peter Hurowitz Running Time: 90 minutes, including one intermission Produced by Mike Nichols at Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce Street (Off 7th Avenue, 1 block south of Bleecker), 212/239-6200 From 3/17/06 to 4/23/06; opening 4/12/06. Tues through Sat @ 8:00pm, Sat & Sun @ 3:00pm, Sun @ 7:00pm. Tickets: $36 Reviewed by Elyse Sommer based on 4/10/06 performance |
The Internet Theatre Bookshop "Virtually Every Play in the World" --even out of print plays
The new annual to dress up every Broadway lover's coffee table
Easy-on-the budget super gift for yourself and your musical loving friends. Tons of gorgeous pictures.
Leonard Maltin's 2006 Movie Guide
Leonard Maltin's 2005 Movie Guide
6, 500 Comparative Phrases including 800 Shakespearean Metaphors by our editor.
Click image to buy.
Go here for details and larger image.
