Mamet runs the gamut
By Juliet Schoen / Staff Writer
The two one-acts by David Mamet, now running at the Kirk Douglas Theater, are billed as “Two Unrelated Plays.” A perfect description, if ever there was one, because the first is a curious interweaving of seemingly innocuous ideas and the other is a take-off on the early Roman comedies by Plautus and Terence.
“The Duck Variations,” which must seem rather ridiculous when read at home, becomes a delightful dialogue of ideas when presented by the two actors. Seated on a park bench, Harold Gould and Michael Lerner ruminate in a give and take about the vicissitudes of the lowly duck. As they get deeper and deeper into the subject, the audience can start to find all kinds of meaning about life, death and the dangers along the way.
Gould and Lerner are remarkable. Every gesture, every word strikes home. Watching these actors is indeed a treat.
The title of the second play, “Keep Your Pantheon,” tells it all. An actor in ancient Rome is out of work and must rely on the tuition of his only student. Fortunately, the actor is played with comic gusto by Ed O’Neill, remembered always as the father in “Married With Children.” He is assisted by the caustic David Paymer as his stooge. Michael Cassidy garners laughs as the handsome young boy needed in every Roman play. Ribald and entertaining, this is a bit of fluff by Mamet, showing his range of talents.
Others adding their talents to the zany goings on are Jeffrey Addis, Steven Goldstein, Vincent Guastaferro, Dominic Hoffman, J.J. Johnson, Rod McLachlan, Jonathan Rossetti and Jack Wallace.
Both plays are directed with a sure hand by Neil Pepe. The run ends on June 8.