TWO VIEWS OF "LOBBY
HERO"
Paulanne Simmons
Lucy Komisar
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No Heroes in “Lobby Hero”
"Lobby Hero"
It hardly seems possible that a play about murder, rape and police corruption could be even remotely amusing. Yet, in many ways, Kenneth Lonergan’s “Lobby Hero” might be the funniest show on Broadway this season. This is partly due to Lonergan’s crisp writing. But even more, it’s thanks to the over-the-top cast directed by the equally brilliant Trip Cullman. And speaking of brilliance, let’s not forget David Rockwell’s revolving set that allows the audience see both inside and outside the lobby of this Manhattan apartment building. Michael Cera is Jeff, the 29-year-old who lives with his brother, having managed to gamble away thousand of dollars after getting himself kicked out of the Navy. Cera, hands in pockets, shoulders stooped, is the quintessential passive/aggressive. We’re never quite sure whether Jeff is callow or clever, naive or conniving. His supervisor, William (Brian Tyree Henry), is one of those black men trying to escape the poverty he’s grown up with. He’s got a family and a job he takes very seriously in the hope of advancement. It’s no wonder Jeff looks up to William. The bulky Henry oozes decency under trying conditions. When he finds out his brother has committed a heinous crime, he is torn between love of family and his desire to remain a law-abiding citizen, even though he knows the law does not serve people like him and his brother. Lonergan’s play does not flatter the police who uphold that law. Bill (Chris Evans) cheats on his wife... and his partner, Dawn (Bel Powley), the rookie cops who thinks she’s the other woman. Evans is so successful in his duplicity at times he almost convinces us he really cares about Dawn, until his narcissism turns into abuse. Much as we might want to empathize with Dawn, Powley’s perpetual pout works against an outpouring of sympathy. In fact, Powley delivers some of the funniest lines. But at a time when the abuse of women is so much in the news, we dare not dismiss the very real danger Bill keeps her in. In fact, maybe it’s that pout that makes Jeff find Dawn so attractive. Or maybe it’s just that he like women in uniforms. Or perhaps he’s drawn by that air of vulnerability Bill knows how to turn to his advantage so well. The one thing all these characters have in common is their love of talk. They just can’t keep their mouths shut. As a result they are constantly digging themselves into a hole, putting others in difficult positions or simply revealing what would better be kept hidden. Sometimes this is funny. Until it gets sad. “Lobby Hero” premiered at Playwrights Horizons on March 13, 2001, closed a month later and in May, reopened at the John Houseman Theater, where it ran until Sept. 2. Seventeen years ago, a play introducing the audience to inept and unethical cops might not have resonated as strongly as it does in this time of the the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements. Indeed, these are more cynical times. Our illusions have been shattered and we are prepared to believe. [ps] LUCY
KOMISAR “Lobby Hero.”
In Kenneth Lonergan’s smart, serious, funny morality tale
of the big city, a cop angling for a promotion visits a hooker in
a high rise while his newbie female partner waits below, a clueless
young security guard in the lobby has a propensity to blather, and
his supervisor has a crisis when his brother is implicated in a
killing, First, I have to say that the cops, Bill (Chris Evans) and Dawn (the chirpy Bel Powley) have brilliant exaggerated New York accents. It’s not clear why security guard supervisor William (Brian Tyree Henry) and guard Jeff (Michael Cera) don’t. Unless it’s an inside joke. All takes place in a high-rise lobby with a counter and goose-neck lamp and an elevator, with floors marked by changing lit numbers. Your eyes are on the numbers when you think officer Bill may be coming down from his assignation with Mrs. Heinvald in 22-J.
The morality challenge is how the very straight William, who is rigid about procedures, caves to family interests and agrees to give an alibi to his brother, who may be implicated in raping and killing a nurse in an attempted theft of drugs from a hospital. What does Jeff do when the boss rather foolishly lets him know? And what does Dawn do when Bill, who is breaking all the rules by visiting a hooker, is the only one who can testify to the fact that she smashed a guy over the head when the 500-pounder (maybe less, but that’s how she remembers it) was rushing to attack her? He will lose an eye.
I also wondered why the cop Bill and the security guard William
have almost the same name. Does it mean that there but for a change
in uniform—or race (William is black)– goes the other? Chris Evans makes Bill almost a caricature of the cop who believes
he can/should game the system. Beth Powley is a charmer as the young
novice officer who really believes in justice. And Michael Cera
is perfect as the guy who can’t help doing right even if it
isn’t good for him. Visit Lucy’s website http://thekomisarscoop.com |
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