 |  |  |  |  |
Usher Nonsense Vol. 2, No. 14
DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA by John Patrick Shanley (Doubt), Directed by Leigh
Silverman (Well)
With Rosemarie DeWitt (Small Tragedy) and Adam Rothenberg
Set – Santo Loquasto (Second Hand Memory), Costumes – Jennifer von Mayrhauser,
Lights Jeff Croiter
Second Stage Theatre through December 5, 2004
There was a play we did a lot in acting class in college back in the early 1970's. I can't remember
the name of it. But I remember it was about a waitress who gets into a conversation with a male
customer. They are both a little odd, and as the story progresses we learn that the waitress has
just "offed" her mother that morning.
I was reminded of that play when I saw this play, because it also starts off with two strangers in
a bar/restaurant situation, and 30 years later that first story still stays with me. This one had a
hard time getting my attention. I don't think it is the writing. It felt like it was the production
itself. Hard to tell where the acting and the directing overlapped. Roberta and Danny didn't seem
to be talking to one another. Lines were fired off and blocking executed, but nothing connected
for me. We go from restaurant to bed to argument to commitment in 90 minutes and I just
couldn't figure out why it was all happening.
These are two people who each realize they are on the edge. They look in the mirror and all they
see is wrong wrong wrong. It's them vs. everyone else, and nobody is winning. Somewhere in
this journey we need to believe that these people become each other's life jackets. In this
production we just watched them tread water.
©2004 Tulis McCall