10:57:54 am 
Looking for the Pony - A Tale of Two Sisters
Categories: UncategorizedSpirited performances from leading actresses Deidre O'Connell and J. Smith Cameron pull theatergoers through Andrea Lepcio's Looking for the Pony, an overly plotted portrait of two sisters whose worlds are rocked when one discovers that she has breast cancer.
In that brief sentence, "Pony" may sound as if it were a "TV Guide" quote for a Lifetime made-for-television movie, and on many levels it is. Lauren (O'Connell) is a can-do sort of entrepreneur, mother and wife, who, despite having gotten a clean reading on a mammogram in the recent past, learns that cancer has set in, and badly. Her sister, Eloisa (Smith Cameron), is a banker, who's ready to chuck the world of finance for a graduate school writing program. When she learns of her sister's diagnosis, though, she's tempted to forego school so that she can help her sister navigate what seems to be a dizzying array of doctors, treatments, and general day-to-day chores.
The story of Lauren's experiences with the medical community and Eloisa's life choices might be enough for one play, but Lepcio adds in a host of other details. The play flashes back to the women's childhoods (O'Connell and Smith Cameron play the younger incarnations of their characters without cloying), and we learn how their stern father's behaviors molded their adult personalities. While Eloisa's tribulations with graduate school do make for an integral part of the story, the details that Lepcio provides about Lauren's business only diffuse the script. Similarly, "Pony" gets bogged down with a backstory about a key moment in Lauren's life when Eloisa was unable to help the sister who had helped her so much as a child.
As always, O'Connell and Smith Cameron, two of the city's seemingly busiest actresses, deliver immaculately detailed and often moving performances in the production which has been directed at almost a whirlwind pace by Stephan Golux on a unit set from Adam Koch, where a pair of industrial metal chairs and a rolling metal hospital chair seem to be in perpetual motion as the play jets from scene to scene. Debargo Sanyal and Lori Funk, who play all of the other characters in "Pony," are also kept in what seems to be perpetual motion, and while Sanyal, playing characters that range from a cranky and demanding old man to a klutzy physician to a fey, self-obsessed hairstylist, manages to nail characters in what seems to be seconds, Funk's various characters often seem to be generalized extensions of one another.
Still, as Lauren's battle becomes increasingly difficult, it's nearly impossible to not be drawn into her story and what theatergoers may find themselves hoping is that Lepcio may consider streamlining the piece in order to further maximize the impact of "Pony."
---- Andy Propst
Looking for the Pony plays at the McGinn-Cazale Theatre (2162 Broadway). Performances are Wednesday at 2 and 7pm; Thursday at 7pm; Friday 8pm; Saturday at 4 and 8pm; and Sunday at 4pm. Tickets are $45.00 and can be purchased by calling 212-579-0528 or by visiting www.vitaltheatre.org.
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