Ethan Coen’s slices of life at the Taper

“At the Gazebo”: Sam Vartholomeos as Carter and Micaela Diamond as Dorothy. Photo by Craig Schwartz
Ethan Coen’s “A Play is a Poem” – five playlets at the Mark Taper Forum
by Bondo Wyszpolski
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Playwright Ethan Coen is one-half of the high-flying Coen Brothers (with Joel), whose cinematic career has encompassed “Blood Simple,” “Fargo,” and “No Country For Old Men,” among others others. They’re true movie magic magicians; whether Ethan also creates theater magic is still an unanswered question.
So let’s get right to “A Play is a Poem,” the umbrella title for five vignettes and their entertaining musical interludes, onstage at the Mark Taper Forum through Oct. 13.

“The Redeemers”: Max Casella as Cal and Joey Slotnick as Wes. Photo by Craig Schwartz
Before summing up the playlets themselves, I would like to emphasize that the production values are, as expected, first rate. I’ll take a moment here and applaud scenic designer Riccardo Hernández, costume designer Sarah Laux, and lighting designer Tyler Micoleau. Original music is by Nellie McKay, and she’s brilliant. More on her later.
The individual standalone components in “A Play is a Poem” (rather vague as a title) are slice of life character studies rather than fully fleshed-out works, and in some cases they seem like trial balloons or “auditions” for later work. Each piece is well acted and the timing is impeccable, so if there are concerns, it’s not with the cast or the acting.
The criticism, as I see it, is that the plays themselves are divertissements, more like entertaining parlor tricks than meaty nuggets the viewer can sink his or her teeth into. But actually, though, in some cases, the writing is too literary for the stage. If you compound that with audience laughter and general restlessness, it’s easy to miss much of the dialogue. Speaking just for myself, I couldn’t follow “At the Gazebo” (which has characters with Southern accents) and at the end really had no idea what it was about. Although I was intrigued enough to want to read the script, even that, without distractions, wasn’t a walk in the park. In this particular case, maybe Coen has a short story on his hands rather than a (lifeless) dramatic work.

“A Tough Case”: Joey Slotnick as Ed Curtain and Micaela Diamond as Lindy. Photo by Craig Schwartz
Gary Allen continues to talk about making peace with the past, until he excuses himself to use the bathroom and on his way back makes a gruesome discovery. Things heat up from here, underscored by a sputtering coffeemaker that gives a wry undertone of humor to the piece. Let us say that, like a Greek tragedy playing itself out, the father’s brutality leaves behind its own legacy.
“A Tough Case” is a gumshoe escapade set in Los Angeles, 1948, all noirish and seedy, with a kind of Coen Brothers meets Raymond Chandler storyline. Ed Curtin (Joey Slotnick) of Curtin & DeMarco Investigations is interviewing for a new partner after DeMarco began an affair with a client’s wife and the client got his revenge and then some. Curtin then hires Don Baines (CJ Wilson), who combines the attributes of neophyte and nerd. He provides a certain ironic subtext to the play. Curtin’s secretary, Lindy (Micaela Diamond), gives him someone to banter with (“…and perc some coffee, will ya Lindy: My head is fighting the battle of Gallipoli and not for the Ottomans”), and their prolonged kiss is like they’re visually reenacting the cover of a lurid paperback, circa the 1950s.

Nellie McKay, singer and musician. Photo by Craig Schwartz
There’s probably a core idea behind “At the Gazebo” and I’d certainly be interested in knowing exactly what Coen was hoping to achieve with it, but as it’s staged here the encounter goes on too long, is hard to hear and to comprehend, and (I hate to say this) needs to be simplified or made a little more explicit. In a movie there are close-ups, but not when watching a play from 20 or 30 rows back.

“The Urbanes”: Max Casella as the Cabbie and Miriam Siverman as the Wife. Photo by Craig Schwartz

“Inside Talk”: Saul Rubinek as Jerry Sterling and Peter Jacobson as the Movie Executive. Photo by Craig Schwartz
These five works have their moments, but they don’t add up to a memorable outing. But Ethan Coen is clearly a very good writer and for the time being better with film scripts than plays. He’s got the potential to deliver for the theater the same as he’s delivered for the silver screen.
Oddly enough, or not, the one who stands out is chanteuse and performer (piano, ukulele, and marimba) Nellie McKay, whose brief part in “A Tough Case” garners more than a few chuckles.
A Play is a Poem is onstage through Oct. 13 at the Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles in the Music Center. Performances, Tuesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2:30 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Running time, one hour and 45 minutes with no intermission. Tickets, $110 to $40. Call (213) 628-2772 or go to CenterTheatreGroup.org. ER
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