Taking a seat at the Southampton Cultural Center to watch Terrence McNally's "It's Only a Play," from the Boots on the Ground Theater, was an existential theatrical experience. Directed by Bob Kaplan, the play takes a hard look at the theater business, from actors to directors to producers to writers, and, yes, even theater critics. No one is safe.
"It's Only a Play" begins with an opening night party for a Broadway show, and despite the fact that the Mets were fighting for their collective lives in the National League Championship Series that night, I was taken right along with them. The theatrical world is one I am intimately familiar with, and seeing the meta narrative come to life, with inflated and bruised egos aplenty, gave the show a lived-in feel.
The immersion can be credited to Matthew O'Connor, who portrays James Wicker, an actor who has become famous for his syndicated series on ABC. Mr. O'Connor is the anchor of the production, scarcely leaving the stage and providing a grounding effect for the audience in the face of a cavalcade of chaotic characters.
Among them are Bonnie Grice as Virginia Noyes, a Hollywood actress who is given one more shot at relevance on Broadway, bedazzled ankle monitor be damned, Gillian Schroeder as Julia Budder, a new producer who has a fair bit to learn about producing, Eileen Trilli as Patricia Austin, a playwright who feels destined to write the next Great American Play (eventually), Huck Hirsch as Sir Frank Finger, a British director and swashbuckling kleptomaniac yearning to be free of his success, Brandon Richard Battiste as Gus P. Head, a wide-eyed newcomer to New York City desperate to make an impression on the party guests, and my personal stand-in, Ira Drew, portrayed by Phil Eberhardt, a theater critic hated by the productions he has critiqued as well as the papers he has worked for.
The bulk of the show follows the opening night party as everyone waits for the first reviews of the play to come in. Each character has hopes for what the show's potential success will bring them, and the stress manifests in bursts of chaos, including the full cast down on their knees in an extended plea to God for a good review.
The strength of this production is the character work. Although the show can have its slow moments, dragging a bit in the first act, it is ultimately uplifted by the actors' humor and how they work with one another.
The costumes are by Ms. Grice, with set design and props by Mr. Kaplan and Ms. Schroeder. The stage manager is Evelyn Lubrano, the lighting is by Daniel Schappert and Andrew Herzman, and the sound is by Dennis Milone and Chris Buckhout.
"It's Only a Play" will run at the Southampton Cultural Center at 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 3 p.m. on Sundays, through Nov. 3. Tickets are $35, or $25 for students, on the cultural center's website.
