Families. Can’t live with ‘em; can’t kill ‘em. In the case of the three brothers and their father in Straight White Men, the balance teeter totters between the two extremes. It’s Christmas time, as you can easily tell by the named stockings hung on the mantel over the fireplace. Sons Jake (Josh Charles, beloved of “The Good Wife”) and Drew (the ridiculously handsome Armie Hammer) have come to spend the holiday with their father, Ed (Stephen Payne). They’re also curious about what’s going on with their brother Matt (Paul Schneider). He was the brilliant intellectual star of the family, the guy with the Harvard degree. Lately, he’s dropped out, doing housework for Ed, and temp work at a community center. Why does he begin to cry when the family is eating a meal out of containers from a Chinese restaurant? For that matter, why does Ed keep referring to “the dinner table” when we never see one? I don’t have brothers, so I can’t say for sure, but it seems that the immature high jinx of the three guys borders on disturbing. There’s a lot of crotch grabby, fanning slapping, and humor about bodily functions. The whole event is strangely out of kilter. The cast shines, and because of that, certain moments are pure gold. When the crazy dancing breaks out after a major fight, the jumping and flailing around express all the moments of the past that the brothers actually do share and cherish. Jake and Drew remembering a time when Drew was so nihilistic that he actually dug his own grave in the back yard rings true. Banker Jake’s mock interview with Ed in how Matt should conduct a job interview is a high point. But so many questions go unanswered. Jake confesses to keeping down at work anyone who’s not white, even though “I have half-black children.” That bit of information is thrown in totally out of context. We know he’s divorced, because the kids are spending the holiday “with their mother.” But the titillating fragment of information about his biracial marriage is mentioned, then dropped. When Drew recommends and offers to pay for the therapy Matt so clearly needs, why is the idea treated like a joke? How does Ed really feel about having Matt retreat back to his old home; he tells his sons he doesn’t need to be taken care of. Is he so lonely for his late wife? She taught the boys to be aware of those who have fewer opportunities than they, even creating a game called “Privilege” based on Monopoly. The most obvious question never gets answered. What has led Matt to settle into the life he now leads? He never dates. He is overwhelmed by student debt but rejects Ed’s offer to pay it off, even though he assures his son he can afford it. Matt refuses to take the check, because “I didn’t earn it.” His brothers become so frustrated with him, they threaten to end all contact. This seems like the kind of threat people make but rarely implement for any amount of time. But again, we too are getting fed up with never knowing the reason for Matt’s failure to thrive, or whether he is or isn’t able to get out of the abyss. And at the end of the day, is it actually okay for the self-described “failure” to just keep on existing on a day-to-day basis? Framing the action are two engaging actors delineated as Person in Charge 1 (Kate Bornstein), who claims no specific gender, and Person in Charge 2 (Ty Defoe), who is a Native American. They good naturedly play with the audience, challenging us to examine our concept of what’s true and normal and what is, literally, outside the frame (which reads, not surprisingly, “Straight White Men”). They also slyly apologize for the ear-splitting music which pounds through the auditorium while a curtain of long shiny tinsel serves as a curtain. It’s most likely not a coincidence that the author is the first female Asian-American to have her work produced on Broadway. Out of the box, indeed. This theater has been newly renovated and upgraded to serve as the Broadway venue for Second Stage Theater. It’s been declared as the only Broadway theater dedicated exclusively to the works of living American playwrights. Theater aficionados eagerly await seeing what will come next. If this production is any indication, the coming shows promise to skillfully tackle difficult problems and sensibilities of our day. Stay tuned.
