John Ferguson by St. John Ervine at the Mint Theater Company. Suburbia by Eric Bogosian at the 2econd Stage Theatre.
At first glance these two plays, one last produced in 1919 and the other newly revised, have little in common besides the fact that these two off-Broadway theaters are next to each other on 43rd Street. But in fact they do have much in common as each begins with dreaming and musing by the protagonists and, in both cases, shattering violence ends in tragedy destroying familes and young futures. We saw these two plays, both in previews, on consecutive evenings. "John Ferguson" was the first. While watching this earnestly produced and passionately acted play set in "Olde Ireland", I felt it to be hoplessly old fashioned and creaky. Both my wife and I agreed that we were glad we saw it, but wondered if it was worth the trouble (the gridlocked traffic on a stormy day had turned a normal commute of one hour to over three - ugh!). But by the time we settled into our seats for Suburbia, we realized that we were fortunate to have seen "John Ferguson". Old fashioned, it undeniably is, but very sturdy and well constructed. It's not a masterpiece by any means, and is certainly not to be compared to frequently revived plays of the same vintage by Shaw or Barker, but it was dark brooding and the shattering conclusion has stayed with us. The set was the best we've seen at the Mint, a dark, but cheery cottege room, with the sun or the night seen through the open doors and wondows. The cast was uniformly excellent with Robertson Carricart as John Ferguson and Justin Schultz as Andrew Ferguson particularly superb.
"Suburbia" by Eric Bogosian is as up to date as one could wish, with it's hip young cast of young drifters sporting cel phones and a panoply of drugs. Again, the set, a street and shop set at floor level is sensational - a 7-11 store operates in front of our eyes and is so convincing that I was tempted to enter it and buy some mints (unfortunately NOT for sale at the 2nd Stage concession). The young kids in their late teens or early 20's (we're not sure), are just out of high school and are hopelessly adrift. They shout, harrass and intimidate the shop owners (two young and energetic immigrants from India) and fight and make love with each other. Again, this idyll of a sort comes to a sad end. The subject of the play is nihlism and for me, this is not enough. We enjoyed the performances by the hip young and attractive cast, but I would bet that Eric Bogosian's thin play, unlike St. John Irvine's meaty one, will prove unrevivable in a hundred years. Both plays get good grades. "John Ferguson" gets a B- and "Suburbia" B+