Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

All the world’s a stage, and we are all actors in it. In the Groundworks Acting Ensemble’s Dirtysomething at the Living Theater, these actors portray many ways in which people put up a performance in life with works from movies, TV, sketches, and improvisation.

The show begins with one player commanding there be no acting of the other players who stand in the wings. This is delivered in an ironically very heightened manner which then flows into a scene that stems from a blend of lines from Othello and Mel Brook’s Robin Hood: Men in Tights. This portrayal of modern culture with drama and urgency is pulled off well by a cast that includes some very talented actors. However, the performance itself could have benefited from a more varied pulling of texts (the beginning weighing heavily on monologues from Waiting for Guffman).

The production is stark with only a small black stage and some white lighting. However, it seems that the performance could have done with some better transitions between scenes. After a while, the separate scenes felt a little disjointed even when there were some very entertaining musical interludes, including a dueling operatic/vaudevillian version of “Summertime”.

There were also some very funny scenes and moments in the show, such as when a group of guys portray men talking to each other like women and, in another scene, women interact with each other as stereotypes of men. As entertaining as it was the production would benefit overall by pushing the boundaries farther whether it be with humor or drama. However, each of the scenes is fun to watch on their own with quirky characters that are skillfully portrayed by the cast. A nice section was one where a group of scenes had a themed thread regarding language, which included an earnest monologue about spellcheckers that was riddled with mistaken words. This was the most cohesive connection of the different scenes throughout the performance.