Comedian
Groucho Marx. Poet
T.S. Eliot. Two influential artists of the 20th Century that probably no one would put in the same sentence together, much less the same play. But they had a brief pen-pal relationship (after Eliot wrote Groucho a fan letter asking for a photo) and met once for dinner at Eliot's home in London. Not much is known about the dinner, which gives playwright Jeffrey Hatcher free reign to imagine it in a clever, funny, acerbic, fourth-wall breaking way.
Groucho Marx Meets T.S. Eliot is a highly entertaining 75 minutes of theater that digs a little bit deeper into these two enigmatic figures and their possible relationship (
continuing through March 15).
I love a two-hander - just two people sitting in a room talking. But I have to admit, I didn't know much about these two people before seeing the show. All I knew about Groucho Marx was the eyebrows, cigar, and "I don't want to belong to a club that would have me as a member," and T.S. Eliot - that the musical
Cats was based on his work. This play doesn't tell us everything about the lives and work of these two artists, but it does give us a picture of who they might have been. It's written in a very clever and fourth-wall breaking way, with Groucho in particular narrating events, giving exposition, and interacting with the audience (tip: don't sit in the front row if you don't want to end up on stage). We see the dinner play out several ways in different styles, including an Eliot play (yes, he was also a Tony-winning playwright) and Groucho's TV quiz show
You Bet Your Life. The interplay between these two very different men is quite amusing and entertaining, but things get a little sticky when they delve into Eliot's anti-Semitic writing and association with fellow poet
Ezra Pound, a supporter of fascism who was indicted for treason.
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Tom (John Middleton) and Groucho (Jim Cunningham)
(photo by Lauren B Photography) |
The play is directed by Michael Robins, the Co-Founder (along with Bonnie Morris) and Executive Producing Director of Illusion Theater,
which is currently celebrating its 50th season. The tone of the play is well executed, funny and irreverent, yet dealing with some serious issues. The direction, along with lighting and sound design, make the jumps between realities, from in the scene to out of the scene, clear and easy to follow. The simple but effective set design is dominated by a weighty dining room table with a chair on either end, a podium rolled out for a couple scenes, and some cute props. And the show is perfectly cast. Jim Cunningham is so dry and funny as Groucho, John Middleton so elegant and (faux) British as Eliot, giving us a real contrast between the two men. The chief reasons to see this play are Jeffrey Hatcher's smart and witty script (as per usual), the endlessly watchable performances of these two actors, and the interplay between them. (Scenic design by Joseph Stanley, lighting design by Dante Benjegerdes, sound design by C. Andrew Mayer.)
