Theater: Lucille Lortel Theatre / 121 Christopher Street, New York, NY, 10014
Synopsis:
MCC Theater's acclaimed 2008 hit Fifty Words (which starred Norbert Leo Butz and Elizabeth Marvel) culminated in one desperate phone call. Side Effects is the story of what happened on the other end of the line. This harrowing and unique journey is expertly plotted by playwright Michael Weller, noted for Loose Ends and Moonchildren, a seminal work for the American stage.
Hugh and Lindy's marriage seems picture-perfect, a beacon in their microcosmic Midwestern world of dinner parties and fundraisers. Behind closed doors they're falling apart - doors they can barely keep shut. Lindy's grappling with bipolar swings, their teenage sons are acting out, and Hugh's rising political star is suddenly imperiled. David Auburn directs.
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June 19, 2011: Now that Joely Richardson has returned to the New York theater, I have just one question: Can we keep her? Seen Off Broadway a decade ago as the older woman in Macaulay Culkin’s life in “Madame Melville,” Ms. Richardson has since become best known for her work on television (“Nip/Tuck,” “The Tudors”).
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June 19, 2011: Watching a married couple arguing can be uncomfortable, and marital strife has been the subject of many good plays, most notably "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" by Edward Albee.
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June 19, 2011: Sequels to plays and musicals are usually not a good idea - the results tend to be even worse than film sequels. Some well-known examples include "Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge," "Bring Back Birdie" and "Love Never Dies," Andrew Lloyd Webber's recently penned continuation of "Phantom of the Opera."
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June 20, 2011: Michael Weller puts a well-heeled couple's decaying marriage and their curiously symbiotic relationship under the microscope in Side Effects, now being presented by MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in Greenwich Village.
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June 19, 2011: The plot synopsis in the press release for Michael Weller's "Side Effects" did not get me excited. How many times have we seen a two-character play about the breakup of a marriage with lots of screaming and throwing of objects? Weller himself has mined this genre already with "Fifty Words," which was presented by the same company, MCC Theater, in the same theater, the Lucille Lortel, three years ago. But then I recalled that "Fifty Words" was much more than a two-handed shouting match and provided complex, deeply etched characterizations of its central couple. So does "Side Effects."
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