Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

Although sucker fish come in many sizes and varieties, the species utilized for metaphorical and gastronomical significance in Ryan Michael Teller's "Sucker Fish Messiah," being served up by the Jean Cocteau Repertory, is of the domestic aquarium variety. With regard to "Messiah" in the title, I'll leave that for your analysis or imagination to solve.

Under the direction of Taylor Brooks, the play focuses on the relationship of two brothers-Paul, a successful song writer on the verge of moving to Los Angles and older sibling Len, his recently acquired roommate in a precarious state of mental health after separating from his wife. They are, indeed, an "odd couple," but the drama delivers little of the comic rewards of Neil Simon's classic. From the beginning it becomes apparent that Paul (Shannon Jones) and Len (Darren Ryan) are having a difficult time of it.

Paul's apartment, the single set designed by Matthew Allar for the compact Bouwerie Lane Theater stage, is cluttered with packed boxes and ready-to-go suitcases, whose contents remain encased throughout; but the "baggage" of the brothers and the other two characters of the play-Paul's girlfriend Emily (Melanie Hopkins) and Len's wife Clare (Jennifer Sanders)-emerge more often than a deranged bottom feeder in pursuit of surface insects. Consequently, a theatrical dredging process reveals-in addition to brotherhood rivalry and marital discord-mendacity, an abusive and abandoning father, anxiety attacks, insecurity, a stomach disorder, a terminally- diagnosed mother, alcohol abuse, a deceased child, several on-stage convulsions and even a bit of incest.

The four actors manage to get through it all, delivering energetic and workmanlike performances; however, the writing provided me little to really identify with or care for their characters' tortured lives and the paths they would take after the final curtain.

A sign outside of the theater still reads, "Jean Cocteau Repertory /Where the Classics Live." I wish it were true.