Fallen

by Toby Zinman

Humpty DumptyThrough April 14, McCarter Theatre, 91 University Place, Princeton, NJ, 609-258-ARTS

After the Fall: of Adam and Eve, of modern civilization, of Humpty Dumpty -- you name it and, according to Eric Bogosian, it’s shattered.

Four 30-somethings, one couple from New York, one couple from Los Angeles, are vacationing in an ultra-renovated barn (knockout set by Robert Brill) in some unspecified rural location. They enter talking on their cell phones. Exploring the upstairs, sleek, blonde Nicole (Kathryn Meisle), a Force in the New York publishing world, calls downstairs to her Woody Allen-ish husband Max (Bruce Norris), “There’s no cable upstairs and no fax. How do we do e-mail?” That initial question slides into “Can you restrain your career angst for five minutes?” Two weeks later, the questions have become “How can we survive?” and “Am I the same person if I’m not living the same life?”

With the arrival of their friends, Troy (Patrick Fabian), bringing “goat cheese from Kosovo -- how cool is that?” and cutie-pie Spoon (Reiko Aylesworth), we’ve got the complete “boutique intellectualism” crowd. All that remains is to bring on the country-boy neighbor, Nat (Michael Laurence), who may be sinister or kindly.

Eric Bogosian, famous for his solo sociological rants, is mad again, although he’s not onstage. This is his fourth full-length play and he manages to indict much of the trendy, contemporary world of America (not only the people of People magazine, and the people who read People, but the people who read People “ironically”). Indictments are brought against: the East Coast, the West Coast, self-important artists who want to be players, screenplay writers who are players, women who are control freaks, dipsy-doodle actresses who have no control, foodies, wine aficionados, bikers, hippies, hillbillies and just about everybody else (except, of course, the smug indicters).

The basic premise of the plot is that technological civilization might collapse: total blackout. How would you survive? Authors have been taking up this stranded-on-a-desert-island, lost-in-the-woods premise since who knows when.

In this play replete with talk, Bogosian has created a theatrical problem for himself: How do you write an interesting play about uninteresting people? Or, if these people are interesting -- and they should be (they’re smart, they’re sophisticated) -- why does their conversation sound so shallow, so dull? Why don’t we feel any sympathy for anybody ? Why don’t their discoveries about their lives seem genuine or heartfelt?

In a surprisingly low dip into cliche, Bogosian gives us, near the end, this greeting card dialogue:

Nicole: “If they give you lemons, you make lemonade.”

Max: “I don’t like lemonade.”

Nicole: “Well, you better learn to like it, Max, because there’s nothin’ else to drink.”

Jo Bonney, Bogosian’s wife, directs (with many long pauses between scenes) this world premiere.

--Toby Zinman




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