Through the rain and the crowds of people that flood Times Square around 8pm, I made my way to the St. James Theatre.
I have to say the main reason I went to see it was for Pablo Schreiber. I saw him in Dying City and knew he’d be someone I wanted to see again on stage. Of course I got seat in the mezzanine (I’m cheap). It was a great decision too because we were upgraded to better seats before the show began.
Bacon. Bacon. Bacon. Eben (Pablo Schreiber ) comes on stage and moves “stage right” to a stove. He takes a block of something out and places it on a frying pan. I assumed it was something fake. As that’s going on, Simeon and Peter Cabot (Eben’s half brothers) are disemboweling a pig. As they cut in the pig (fake pig) and remove its entrails, I smell bacon. Sweet, crunch bacon. The smell reminded me of mornings when my mom would fix breakfast. Although this time the bacon didn’t smell that good while watching blood and entrails on the stage. Death, food and hunger. Great moment. I knew it was going to be an interesting evening. The set was masculine, large and menacing. There are huge rocks and boulders on “stage left” with the house confined to “stage right”. There wasn’t much space for the actors to move in such a confined and limited space. It’s like they’re caged and hungry to escape.
How do you play “desire”? Sexy actors alone can’t pull it off for an hour. You have to have objectives and clear tactics to achieve them. You have to connect with your fellow actors and communicate with your voice and body. At times I felt I was watching a Shakespearean tragedy because everything was big, from the set pieces to the acting.
Brian Dennehy (Ephraim Cabot) was fantastic. His stage presence was HUGE. Whenever he walked out on stage you were drawn to him instantly. I could see how he had three wives. I don’t know if the actors planned this but you could see so much of Eben in his father. Their dysfunctional relationship was played very well.
I have to mention Eben Cabot and Abbie Putnam. Since the actors (Pablo and Carla) are featured in the ads “desiring each other”, I have to comment. They were hot. Pablo fans will be satisfied to see him in certain stages of undress, but when you get over that their reactions to each other were moist and hot. I thought I was watching a mirroring exercise when I saw them on stage together. She would move and he would respond and vice versa. It was like a dance. At one point he’s on a table, by himself, and I thought I would lose it. Hopefully those ads to reel people into a night of theatre with some actors who can act. Below is an ad for the show.
I couldn’t get the sheriff (Michael Laurence) out of my head. He had no lines and comes in at the end. What a gig!
There is nothing like the smell of a thick piece of bacon cooking, frying and burning right to the point where it’s still good to eat. Just like Desire on the Elms.
