Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

Stefan (Daniel Popa) has been married to Ella (Jen Taher) for three years, and now she wants a proper wedding ceremony. Stefan may or may not have married Ella for a green card, and may or may not be having a relationship with their mutual friend Bob (Joey Williamson), a musician who may have mono or malaria. Dan the lawyer (Brad Love) who represents Stefan is having an affair with his phone operator (Franny Silverman), but falls in love with a Brazilian painter/singer Woman (Kim Gainer) who will sing a love song at the wedding of Stefan and Ella. Disjointed scenes of The Big Sleep as well as noir scenes of the cast illustrate the internal and sometimes external goings on, and a detective named Dick (Peter Allen Stone) makes an appearance, as does a femme fatale (also Franny Silverman).

 

I’m not sure all the pieces quite fit together in “Strangers” by Nastaran Ahmadi, the multi-media play put by on by The Shalimar at St. Mark’s Church, but it sure is entertaining, with some great lines and a game cast. Silverman’s hilarious phone operator says that she has sex with Dan the lawyer and she always gets the bottom because leather burns would distract him from his job. “I miss being on top!” she whines. Silverman is a real find, and channels a young Christine Baranski extremely well. Williamson’s earnest, sweet and talented singer/guitarist Bob tells Popa’s perpetually in denial and rather shallow Stefan that feelings suck and feelings change, but the truth lasts forever. He quotes from the film “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” Then he sings a song comparing Stefan to global warming. Gainer’s Woman paints circles and only circles, and sings most of her lines in an enchanting way. No wonder Love’s Dan the lawyer is smitten (while also revealing a glorious singing voice.) Stefan, trying somehow to explain to Ella how he is feeling, tells her that nothing about her disgusts him, but, then the opposite is also true.

There are some misses that muddied rather than clarified the text. The group musical numbers don’t really work, and don’t really further characterization or plot and so seemed extraneous. With so many interesting and funny characters onstage, Ella got lost in the shuffle, and does not have enough stage time for the audience to understand why she wants to marry someone who clearly is not in love with her. That’s too bad, because her scene with the Woman and learning to paint seemed like a missed opportunity to explore what Ella is really looking for, what else is going on in her life, what would make her happy. That way, the thwarted wedding would take on more resonance and loss.

The noir slips right in, adding another dimension to the already entwined plot. Someone gets a bullet in the gut, a couple split, and another live happily ever after. With these engaging“Strangers” it's an enjoyable way to spend an evening.