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The New York Daily News Monday, September 29, 1997 THEATER REVIEW 'Plunge' Makes Splash at Playwrights By HOWARD KISSEL Daily News Drama Critic PLUNGE. By Christopher Kyle. With Ashley Crow, Taylor Nichols, Frederick Weller, Bruce Norris and Jessica Hecht. Sets by Rob Odorisio. Costumes by Jennifer Von Mayrhauser. Directed by Ron Lagomarsino. At Playwrights Horizons. It is a tribute to Christopher Kyle's talent that he can make a skillful comedy out of a subject that is, for the most part, abhorrent-- namely, yuppies. Most of the characters in "Plunge" are in their mid-30s, defensive and humorless about their material comfort. There are two exceptions. One is Matty, unabashed about living off his mother, even if she does occasionally make unreasonable demands, like wanting him to become an Episcopal priest. The other exception is Jim, a decade or more younger, content to be an office temp who capitalizes suavely on his sexual attractiveness. The action begins in a room in the trendy Paramount Hotel, where Clare has come for a night with Harris, her employe and, coincidentally, the husband of her closest friend, Val. Harris, either through guilt or inebriation, can't consummate their attempted infidelity. Jim arrives and teaches Clare to overlook the class distinctions that have inhibited her much of her life. Most of the play takes place in Clare's picture-perfect Connecticut house, with flashbacks to the Paramount, where we see her night with Jim. In the course of the Connecticut weekend, all the characters learn too much about each other and, worst of all, themselves. Only Jim emerges as resilient as he began. All these people could easily be obnoxious, but Kyle depicts them with wit and, most impressive, sympathy. They are also beautifully acted. Ashley Crow catches Clare's sense of entitlement but makes her poignant. Jessica Hecht is perfect as the tiresomely "correct" Val. Bruce Norris projects Matty's droll lassitude splendidly, Taylor Nichols has just the right note of earnestness as Harris, and Frederick Weller could not be more appealing as Jim. Ron Lagomarsino's direction catches the play's nuances elegantly. Rob Odorisio's sets reflect its wit. "Plunge" is a winning look at a normally unwinning subject. |
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