AmericanTheaterWeb Original News & Reviews

In Beast, which opened last night at New York Theatre Workshop, Michael Weller, the playwright who tapped his own generation's anger and frustration about the Vietnam War, has moved on to tap the pulse of the young people who have spent hours in front of violent videogames and watching movies where explosions and death are predominant plot elements, and who are now either reacting to or participating in the war in Iraq. Weller's picaresque tale – about a pair of army buddies who return to this country horribly disfigured from their tour of duty in Iraq – may not always completely satisfy, but its flights of imagination can be extraordinarily compelling.

The army buds are Jim (Logan Marshall-Green) and Voych (Corey Stoll), and both have lost an arm. When they return to the U.S. they set off on a cross-country expedition, visiting various historical and tourist attractions before Voych has a revelation at the foot of Mt. Rushmore. What Voych hears while looking at up at the stone-carved faces of Washington, Jefferson, et. al. sends the two men on the final leg of their journey – to ranch in Crawford, Texas and an encounter with the president GW (Dan Butler). In keeping with the comedy and senseless adventure that has been the hallmark of Jim and Voych's previous stops around the country, including a calamitous visit to Voych's wife (Lisa Joyce), the duo's encounter with the president reaches a fever pitch before this play, described as "A Fever Dream in Six Scenes," reaches its conclusion.

Though there are no references to video gaming in Weller's script, Jo Bonney's production manages to evoke the adrenaline-pumping energy of multi-user shoot-'em up titles like 'Halo.' Tal Yardley's video design – which uses night footage from the war and other black, white, gray and green quick-cut imagery – punctuates scenes and is accompanied by David Van Tieghem's original score that sounds like it might be heard underneath an action film. The buddies – mismatched in temperament even as they share a benumbed and bitter quality – also draw audiences' minds to the sort of summertime fare that has enured many to images of war and death.

Unfortunately, Weller's play, and Bonney's staging, as it wends from scene to scene, does not take on the same sort of heart-stopping urgency that is characteristic of what seem to be a portion of Weller's inspiration. As the sequences – some beautifully and cuttingly written – unfold against the olive drab sliding panels that are the chief component of Eugene Lee's austere scenic design, there's an almost lackadaisical quality to the play. During Jim and Voych's final moments in Germany, they meet an unscrupulous army Captain (also played by Butler), and one can sense instantly that things will not go well. Yet, curiously, rather than crackling with danger, the scene unfolds almost casually.

Weller's writing, and the performers, fare better when the play becomes more intimate. There are beautiful moments within Voych's reunion with his wife, and a late night encounter between Voych and a young, blind prostitute (also played with almost luminescent vulnerability by Joyce), hired so she will not realize the severity of his injuries, proves to be almost heartbreaking.

Throughout Marshall-Green and Stoll give commanding and passionate performances that also, impressively, communicate the men's dulled and regressive emotional states. In addition to fine work from the multiply cast Butler and Joyce, Jeremy Bobb stands out as a fast-talking Southern truck driver who helps Jim and Voych reach their destination in Texas, where Weller gives us his unforgettable ending. One wishes that more of the play, with its exceptionally important message about the human cost of the war, vibrated with a similar excitement.

---- Andy Propst

Beast continues through October 12 at New York Theatre Workshop (79 East 4th Street). Performances are Tuesday at 7pm; Wednesday through Friday at 8pm; Saturday at 3 and 8pm and Sunday at 2 and 7pm. Tickets are $65.00 and can be purchased by calling 212-239-6200 or by visiting www.telecharge.com. Further information is available online at www.nytw.org.