NEW YORK—Aptly titled, Almost an Evening consists of three one-act plays by Ethan Coen, each of which could be expanded into a full-length work.
In Waiting Nelson (Joey Slotnick) awakes to find himself in an office with no door, a continually typing receptionist (Mary McCann) and no idea how he got there. Soon, Nelson realizes he's dead and in a sort of "holding area" where he must wait for a time before he can proceed to heaven. However, moving on is not as easy as all that as Nelson is shuffled from one bureaucrat to another (Jordan Lage, Mark Linn-Baker, Del Pentecost) with his stay in this place continually extended. The story has an interesting "Twilight Zone" feel, coupled with the ironic truth that getting things done in any major corporation can be next to impossible when the right hand has no idea what the left one is doing. Or do they? Good acting all around, with Slotnick quite appealing as an "everyman" caught in the cogs of a giant bureaucracy, a feeling most people can quite easy relate to.
In Four Benches, a man (Pentecost) inadvertently wanders into some sort of covert meeting and is killed to prevent him from revealing what he's seen. The resulting fallout has the man's father (an excellent J.R. Horne) wanting to understand why his son died while one of those involved (Jonathan Cake) has a crisis of conscious over his actions. The piece also contains some nice moments of humor, demonstrating to a complete outsider, how ridiculous this deadly serious game of cat and mouse can seem. Exactly what the meeting was about is never revealed. Only the results and (sometimes tragic) effects.
Debate, the final piece, is the most fleshed out, thought provoking, funniest and most likely to offend. Here Coen takes aim at religion by asking what comes to mind when people think of God. Is the Creator stern and insistent that his Commandments be followed without exception, or someone kind and understanding favoring a "big tent approach" (room for everyone each in their own fashion). Taking the form of a political debate (between F. Murray Abraham and Linn-Baker) and then seeing how "real" people interpret what they see on stage, the results make for an interesting theological discussion, as well as getting off some pointed one-liners and some rather sarcastic (but true) comments.
The common theme running through all three pieces is that every one of us must ultimately be responsible for our own actions. There are no complete answers here, just partial solutions, numerous questions and a very strong narrative in each work, which is why they hold one's interest so powerfully.
The entire cast (all of whom play multiple roles) is strong throughout, with each doing excellent work. There's helped with the strong and tight direction by Neil Pepe. The scenic design by Riccardo Hernandez, basically a few props and set pieces are okay, lighting by Donald Holder is quite good as are the costumes by Ilona Somogyi.
Also in the cast is Elizabeth Marvel.
Almost an Evening
Atlantic Theatre Company, Stage Two
330 West 16th Street
Tickets: 212-279-4200 or www.ticketcentral.com
Closes: Feb. 10, 2008
Running Time: Approximately 1 Hour, 15 Minutes
Judd Hollander is the New York correspondent for the London publication On Stage.
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