PLAY (LONG LIVE TANTALUS)
nytheatre.com review by Anna Drozdowski
August 15, 2002
Long Live Tantalus is the second name given to Play, now
at the Present Company Theatorium. Quite a name for a show that begins
with the line "C'mon Dickie," thus setting the scene for this story of a
Midwestern family. After moving back home, Dickie, Jr. (Noah Trepanier)
is caught between his overbearing mother (Yvette Lenhart), his Green Bay
Packing father (Ben Killberg), his beer-guzzling Uncle Pat (Brian Sacca),
and his hot-to-trot ex-girlfriend (Meghan Cass). Add to this mix talk of
his current girlfriend and psychotherapy and you have your average
middle-class psychosis. From this Chicagoan's perspective the only thing
that could have added to the scene they set up were a few more mullets
and moustaches. Presented by bipolar productions, Play (Long Live Tantalus) is an accurate and oftentimes painful look at the American family. Stopped short occasionally by dialect that veered a bit towards North Dakota rather than Wisconsin, the audience still reveled in the polka music and the sing-along. The characters, most notably Mother, proceed with the appropriately annoying characteristics and eccentricities that any child would abhor. And the fridge full of beer onstage certainly was a tantalizing alternative to the hotbox that the FringeNYC sometimes becomes. I wonder how it is that they have captured my bizarre upbringing to such an extent?
