FringeNYC 2013: 2&2

Review by Gianfranco Lentini · August 15, 2013

It won’t take much to put 2 and 2 together about this year’s 2013 New York International Fringe Festival show, 2&2. “A new serio-comedy about forgiveness,” written by Peter Cosmas Sofronas and directed by Christian Amato, this piece tries its hardest to ask its audience, “What do you get when you put 2 and 2 together?” Unfortunately, my response may fall somewhat short of their expectations.

Meet Tommy Hanson (Daniel Dambroff). Trying to make it as a comic book artist, he’s blindly managed to fall in love with his sister’s fiancé, David Sharpe (Claron Hayden). Doing his best to maintain and balance a relationship with the rest of his family, we find our comic connoisseur learning from experience that putting two and two together isn’t always as simple as getting four. Making sense of where love has brought him and where it’s taking him, Tommy deals with bringing 15 years of internal struggle out to those who mean the most to him even when the feeling isn’t returned. Whether or not he’s certain of the outcome of his decisions to pursue life and love, he still has a lot to learn from his family, David, and even Superman.

Jumping into this production of 2&2, many moments between Tommy and his sister, Rachel (Amanda Audrey), left me questioning exactly what their relationship was. Having imagined from the start of the show they were a couple (which I quickly learned otherwise); the way they interacted with each other made me believe they were sharing details too intimate for a normal brother/sister conversation, and this left me a little on edge. Not afraid to beat around the bush on any subject, our brother/sister duo is matched with an equally critical set of parents: an unforgiving father and an independent mother. The best part about this show, Tommy’s mother, Mary Hanson (Judy Bruno-Bennett), delivers surefire one-liners that make every second she’s on stage worthwhile.

Regardless of a predictable storyline and a few lingering scenes that were difficult to trudge through, this cast of characters did their utmost to keep the pace of the show alive. It’s plain to see that making a mountain out of a molehill is second nature for the Hanson family, and though I commend the cast for having worked well with what they were given, sometimes it’s best to not explain every last detail. Additionally, of all the places 2&2 took their audience and of all the ideas that were explored (i.e. family values, love, future), most seemed very expected when there were no surprises left to be had. It was almost as if an invisible hand was guiding the play, finally providing the audience with a conclusion that was solved in one sweeping and unfortunately un-entertaining decision.

I understand the concept of 2&2 is to be able to put 2 and 2 together, but when this production does the math for you, there lacks the luster of audience involvement. With some simplification and redevelopment to this production, it’s safe to say that this play isn’t far off from soaring like Superman. As for now however, it appears 2&2 may just walk its way out of NYCFringe a mere Clark Kent.