Get ready for the unexpected when Norm and his wife Corky invite another couple to their Ojai backyard to watch a meteor shower in the night sky. As the stars come out and the conversation gets rolling, cocktails flow, tempers flare, and sparks fly-literally. Steve Martin's surprising new comedy takes an offbeat and absurdist look at the comic anxiety lurking just beneath the surface of modern marriage.
The play is a brisk, intermission-less 80 minutes, and its problem is that every character, if not unsavory, is not that likable. Do they feel imperiled? Not really. Do we care about their relationship faultiness? No. Both couples are playing games, and both know they are playing games, and we are in on the games.
Martin's play is an experimental comedy that sometimes feels like an extended sketch show in which the same scenes are replayed again and again with different outcomes. The story is a little like that of Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Set in 1990s California, it sees one married couple entertaining another at their swanky home. Instead of playing 'get the guests', as Martha and George do, the guests here seem on a mission to 'get the hosts', in more ways than one. The result is an occasionally brittle but seldom biting comedy, a not exactly subtle piece of writing about domestic relationships and the games people play with each other, given a cosmic edge by a spectacular meteor shower.
2016 | San Diego, CA (Regional) |
The Old Globe World Premiere Production San Diego, CA (Regional) |
2017 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2018 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Laura Benanti |
2018 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Amy Schumer |
2018 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | Steve Martin |
2018 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Amy Schumer |
Videos