A REVIEW OF FOUR SHOWS BY PETER LEVY
FOUR PLAYS BY PETER LEVY
Reviewed by Jeffrey R Smith of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle
The Masquers Playhouse of Point Richmond recently presented the Bay Area with four plays that could easily be called "The Best of Peter Levy" or "Peter Levy's Greatest Hits" or "A Levy Festival." If only Mr. Levy spoke Yiddish he could arguably be the Bay Area's incarnation of Isaac Bashevis Singer. Levy is clearly in a league of his own; although, given his wit and his irony, one catches occasional whiffs and reflections of Chekhov, Wilde, Neil Simon, Thurber, Woody Allen and perhaps Shaw.
First in the Masquers' line-up was THE TITANIC REVISTED. In writing this one act, Mr. Levy surely speculated that if the doomed vessel had set sail from England, then certainly the majority of the passengers were British; furthermore, with that many stodgy Brits onboard, surely one couple would have wiled away their remaining hours playing gin rummy and keeping a stiff upper lip. Levy invents that couple and then draws on a reliable ethnic stereotype to depict the details leading to their final shuffle of the deck and last sip of cocktails. If only the aplomb depicted by Levy's two representatives of the British ruling class had buoyancy, the Titanic could have limped into New York harbor. While a comedy focused on the sinking of the Titanic seems a bit of a stretch, to his credit, Mr. Levy makes it work.
The second feature of the evening was MOURNERS, a tale of three men, all of whom have discretely shared the same indiscrete woman. They are brought together after her funeral by the design of her surviving husband to square off with one another. While the meeting could have been a wake of sorts, the occasion only serves to set the men at odds with one another. Watching the show, one cannot help but wish that lady libertine, the professor's wife, might have had a fourth lover. Collectively, the mourners might have formed a poker club and shared sordid anecdotes while the cards were being shuffled. Mr. Levy cleverly constructs the play as a delicate balancing act: no one gets more than his share of sympathy, no one gets more than an equal cut of the blame and no one gets to ascend to moral high ground. The cool moral indifference of their shared lover seems to have deprived the men of any meaningful memories of her. It seems that individually their experiences with her create a void instead of filling one and that their common denominator serves not to join them but to centrifuge them into isolation.
Of all Mr. Levy's offerings, THE INTERVIEW seems to have the closest brush with Chekhov. Were the director to ask the actors to effect Russian accents, dance a Mazurka rather than a tango, and prop the stage with a steaming Samovar, this play could almost be a Chekhov parody. Arthur Hamilton, imbued with self confidence encroaching on arrogance, interviews for a domestic position with Miss Phoebe Watson. Against the wishes of her overstepping maid Hilde, Ms. Watson becomes very familiar with Arthur in short order. To Hilde's horror, Arthur lands a job with Miss Watson that is much weightier than that of mere butler. Levy seems to have a knack for manipulating his audience. First he gets the audience to root for his character and then he brings to fruition the very things he got his audience to hope for. As a result of this machination, the play is as viscerally satisfying as it is funny.
In the final piece of the evening, Mr. Levy demonstrates his ability to shift moods. FRIENDS is decidedly a New York piece. Not only is it set in New York, the characters are obviously dyed-in-the-wool New Yorkers. Mr. Levy, a self-confessed Californian, seems to be able to deftly paint authentic New Yorkers with some fine literary brush strokes. Ruth Appfelbaum and Max Horowitz's argument over a park bench quickly but credibly evolves into a love story. Before lapsing into a fugue to relive the torrid scenes from Erich Segal's LOVE STORY, visualize Ruth as a sixty plus woman who has been ridden hard and put away wet by three itinerant husbands. Then visualize Max: sixty plus literati who made a career of creating crossword puzzles for the New York Times and now finds himself sleeping under the New York Times to keep himself warm in Central Park. Both characters are living out their remaining golden years fighting off the reaper and infirmity with one hand and penury with the other. FRIENDS is a gentle warning. It tells us several things about life. One, you always realize the truth about your situation in life long after it would have been crystal clear to any stranger. Two, there is no such thing as a retirement account that is too big. And three, when you don't think you need a friend is probably the time you need a friend the most. FRIENDS is in a sense redemptive for Mr. Levy. Just when you think he puts wit, irony and glibness ahead of sincerity, he trumps his series of plays with warmth, compassion and a genuine human spirit.
U.S. Naval Aviator and Lieutenant Commander Retired
Math Teacher at Encinal High School A.U.S.D.
San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle
Sidewalk Politician and Arm Chair Liberal