THE BASICS: BURST, a new play by Rachel Bublitz, directed by Daniel F. Lendzian, starring Tracie Lane, Aleks Malejs, and Christine Turturro, opened after previews on October 26 and runs through November 12, Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30, with a matinee on Saturday November 5 at 3:30, and a special Monday performance on November 7 at 7:30 (for the convenience of industry but open to the public). Alleyway Theatre, 1 Curtain Up Alley, Buffalo (between Pearl and Main in the Theatre District) 716-852-2600. alleyway.com
THUMBNAIL SKETCH: Sarah Boyd (played by Tracie Lane) is a rising star, a charismatic CEO with her face on the cover of Forbes, who has built her company, Tactix, from the ground up, on the promise of delivering a solution to the ever-growing problem of plastic waste. Along with her more introverted college buddy, Jennifer Weaver (Aleks Malejs), Tactix’s Chief Technology Officer, their company is at a watershed moment. Tomorrow Sarah will simultaneously announce a new collaboration with Colgate-Palmolive to provide health and beauty products in durable but biodegradable plastic tubes and bottles at the same time as she will be in court, suing the two’s old college mentor, who has been telling the world that their premise is false. Oh, and tonight she’ll also underestimate a young female reporter, Alexis Lyons (Christine Turturro). If you don’t look behind the curtain, there’s nothing Sarah can’t handle.
Runtime: 90 minutes without intermission
THE PLAYERS, THE PLAY, AND THE PRODUCTION: On one stage you can see three of the most outstanding Buffalo actors we have so please don’t miss this opportunity. Recently seen in a drop-dead performance as Titania at Shakespeare in Delaware Park as well as the lead in STAGE KISS at Irish Classical, Juilliard graduate Tracie Lane has that out-of-town experience that perfects raw talent and allows her to completely inhabit her role. She is on-stage for the entire 90 minutes, a feat that has been equaled in the past by co-star Aleks Malejs who won an Artie for her one-woman performance as “the pilot” in GROUNDED and then went on just two years later to win again as “Mena” in SIVE.
Lane and Malejs are joined by yet a third actor of whom, since seeing her as an undergraduate at Niagara University, I have been a big fan, and that is the outstanding Christine Turturro. BURST is a fast-paced play with rapid dialog reminiscent of Aaron Sorkin productions such as “West Wing” where the timing has to be flawless and the ability of all three actors has to be at the highest level. It is.
The action is played out on one of the most attractive stages (Collin Ranney, Scenic and Costume Design) that I’ve seen since “the new sheriff” Chris Handley took over as Executive Artistic Director of The Alleyway, and that’s saying something. Once again, this set is fresh, crisp, and completely believable, but with a touch of whimsey in that piled high outside the office’s frosted windows are hundreds of the plastic 500 ml. water bottles that are all too familiar.
Reading the Director’s Note in the (actual, printed, yaay!) program Daniel Lenzian writes that when he first read BURST he had not heard of Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced CEO of Theranos, but you may see many parallels in this story. Theranos (real) and Tactix (fictional) are both Silicon Valley start-ups, founded by charismatic women who dropped out of college to start their companies, which promised seemingly impossible huge tech breakthroughs that were publicly challenged by a former professor. Both Holmes (real) and Boyd (fictional) were big fans of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, whose “my way or the highway” management style has been both praised and vilified over the years. In BURST you’ll get to see that management style up close.
I graduated from high school the year the movie “The Graduate” was released, with the famous advice to a very young Dustin Hoffman that the future was in “plastics.” It was gratifying a half-century later to see a play that comes full circle with a completely different take on plastics.
Now, you might think that a play with three women characters, all successful at that, might be a feminist play. And, indeed, there is a very funny scene in which Boyd is thinking out loud about what questions the reporter will ask her, questions that, as a woman, she is sick and tired of answering. What about her lipstick? Her shoes? How does she balance work and home life? A man would never be asked these questions. But it also comes out that Boyd is not particularly interested in giving other women a boost to their careers. Boyd is, well… complicated. And man, is she focused. To a fault.
The director mentions in his notes The Macbeths and Julius Caesar as Shakespearean characters bent on success at all costs, and that’s accurate here. But as I watched I was thinking more of KING LEAR, where Lear is obsessed with questions of loyalty, unable to think clearly, not knowing friend from foe, and of the character Edmund in that play, the “new man,” competitive, suspicious, and obsessed with personal glory. You might see three modern women on stage, but BURST is just bursting with the stuff of Shakespeare.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
NPR (National Public Radio) ran a six-part series this fall on Regional Theaters called “The Next Stage” with Part 4 titled “Where will the next ‘Hamilton’ come from now that so many playwrights are in TV?” specifically mentioning The Alleyway Theater (now in its 43rd season) as a showcase for new plays.
You might also want to read the Buffalo Rising preview of BURST by Liberty Darr here, where you can also see a one-minute trailer or just watch the trailer…
*HERD OF BUFFALO (Notes on the Rating System)
ONE BUFFALO: This means trouble. A dreadful play, a highly flawed production, or both. Unless there is some really compelling reason for you to attend (i.e. you are the parent of someone who is in it), give this show a wide berth.
TWO BUFFALOS: Passable, but no great shakes. Either the production is pretty far off base, or the play itself is problematic. Unless you are the sort of person who’s happy just going to the theater, you might look around for something else.
THREE BUFFALOS: I still have my issues, but this is a pretty darn good night at the theater. If you don’t go in with huge expectations, you will probably be pleased.
FOUR BUFFALOS: Both the production and the play are of high caliber. If the genre/content are up your alley, I would make a real effort to attend.
FIVE BUFFALOS: Truly superb–a rare rating. Comedies that leave you weak with laughter, dramas that really touch the heart. Provided that this is the kind of show you like, you’d be a fool to miss it!