Terrible Advice

A Menier Chocolate Factory presentation of the play in 2 functions by Saul Rubinek. Directed by Frank Oz. Stanley - Andy NymanJake - Scott BakulaDelila - Sharon HorganHedda - Caroline QuentinWhether it had been nerve or foolhardiness that brought actor Saul Rubinek ("Warehouse 13") to find the title "Terrible Advice," the worst advice he was handed about his debut stage comedy was it was ready for production. A flaccid, sitcom-ant relationship tangle of screwed-up middle-age, it really wants to be David Mamet's "Sexual Perversity in Chicago" but feels as though undercooked Neil Simon with added promising. And less laughs. Andy Nyman is Stanley, a rudderless nebbish who for reasons never made obvious has spent two-and-a-half decades seeking relationship advice online from his former college jock friend Mike (Scott Bakula), a self-admiring guy who, by their own admission, does not have "a moral bone during my body" and whose "dick recedes" in the prospect of "smiling sex," i.e. virtually anything approaching an adult relationship. Unknowingly to Stanley, Mike has already established a secret fling with Stanley's girlfriend Delila (Sharon Horgan, trying in vain to include depth for an underwritten role). Delila is, natch, close friends with Jake's partner Hedda (Caroline Quentin) so there's comedy as well as farce to become milked in the lies, cover-ups and exposures. That, a minimum of may be the theory. The greatest technical issue is that Rubinek's TV-style dialogue carries no dramatic weight. Everybody states precisely what they believe, which results in two hrs and 20 minutes without subtext. All of them speak with one another about complicated past associations and current fears, all rattled and shook out for intended comic effect, but all things have equal weight. Consequently there's very little tension. To complicate matters, Frank Oz's lame production doesn't have pace. David Farley's atmosphere-free, drably lit sets are extremely cumbersome that any energy the new stars create plummets throughout the shateringly awkward transitions. A more powerful author might have produced fun subjecting unreconstructed male behavior. You will find initial laughs in Jake's amusingly appalling sexism, and Rubinek's downbeat ending is clearly designed to indicate that the play is one thing of the rake's progress. But for your to operate we have to feel sympathy for that anti-hero. Along with the women's roles so undernourished, it develops wearingly sour watching a author getting his cake and eating it too. Regardless of the cast's game effort and timing, the figures are extremely very finely dramatized to become of abiding interest -- similar to the play.Sets and costumes, David Farley lighting, Paul Anderson seem, David Ogilvy production stage manager, Ciara Fanning. Opened up, examined Sept. 29, 2011. Running time: 2 Hrs, 20 MIN. Contact David Benedict at benedictdavid@mac.com