Sarah Paulson to Star in Powerhouse Play – Deadline

Joan Marcos

Pay attention to the noisy and annoying cicadas, as they seem to have a story to tell.

At least they did a great job in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins suitablethe second stage production opens tonight at the Helen Hayes Theater with one of the best casts—headed by the stunning Sarah Paulson—on Broadway.

Thrilling family drama directed by Leila Neugebauer (easily matching her exemplary work in 2018) Waverley Gallery), suitable It’s a sinister cacophony of unnerving mystery, ancient resentments, and raucous comedy—the latter all the more wonderful when, as it does, a story about the darkest horrors of America’s heritage.

Legacies that, as suitable This effectively proves that, despite all efforts, it is not possible to stay buried for long. Like those cicadas, who remind us of remaining underground for 13 years before invading our surface Earth, hate, along with secrets and grudges, has a way of making itself known.

Set in the summer of 2011 — before black lives mattered, before white America began to internalize the vocabulary of cultural appropriation — suitable Three mostly estranged siblings reunite as they reconnect to deal with their late father’s estate – a former farmhouse in Arkansas, a massive, deteriorating house occupied by different, spanning members of the Lafayette family for many generations.

Off-stage estate sales and deaths of the head of the family are always ripe for drama, especially of the turmoil-survivor variety, but suitable It takes the scenario to new heights. But first, let’s get to know the family: There’s older sister Toni (Paulson), whose rage and cruel outbursts are matched only by her blind loyalty to her late father.

Next in line is Beau (Corey Stoll), who has long had the family’s deep pockets but is now in dire financial circumstances. He’s more moderate than his sister Toni, at least until he’s not.

Then there’s Frank, or Franz, or whatever the very disturbed outcast from the Lafayette family is calling himself these days. Played brilliantly by Michael Esper, Franz has been MIA for a decade or so, making what seems like a finally successful struggle with sobriety after a previous crime that only gradually makes itself known to the public.

Along for the very bumpy ride is Rhys (Graham Campbell), a moody Tony, mostly silent and deeply troubled – the word is inescapable when it comes to the Lafayette family – the teenage son; Rachel (Natalie Gould), Beau’s Jewish wife who knows all too well the bigotry buzzing within the walls of the dilapidated house; River (Elle Fanning), Franz’s younger fiancée whose new-age hippie bromides look strangely pointy; And Cassidy (Alyssa Emily Marvin), Beau and Rachel’s 13-year-old daughter who will play a crucial role in reviving some of those decaying family secrets.

Finally, there’s young Ainsley (played by Lincoln Cohen in the reviewed performance), who wanders mostly through the old house—and who provides one of the most stunning first-act closing moments in recent memory.

Play on a huge set of two levels beautifully designed by Dots, suitable It sets itself up early as a fairly ordinary family fight for money before taking a decidedly horrific turn. A photo album was discovered among my father’s old detritus, and it wasn’t full of the usual smiling Polaroids: the album contained photos of lynched black people. And that’s not even the most gruesome find to be found hidden in the nooks and crannies of the old farmhouse.

Do the dark artifacts belong to my father? Where did they leave their other ancestors behind? If so, why did Dad keep them? These questions fuel the family battle that follows, as each character struggles to come to terms—or not—with a legacy inextricably linked to America’s ugliest history. And just wait until one of the characters realizes that the artifacts could be worth big bucks to the right collector.

To reveal more of the plot – and there is much more – would be to spoil too much of the play’s power, so it’s best to focus here on the characters and the actors’ performances. Like Toni Paulson, she became known to television viewers for her American horror story Franchise roles, but long-time favorites among New York theatergoers, are unforgiving in their ferocity. Toni fancies herself a liar to the truth, which she very much is, but she’s also oblivious to the truths that come much closer, from her late father’s secrets to the hatred lurking beneath the surface of her teenage son’s silence.

The rest of the cast holds their own against the tornado of Paulson’s performance. As Poe, Stoll (House of cards) takes what might be his least interesting character — the cash-strapped, supposedly enlightened peacemaker turned kidnapper — and finds nuance that Jacobs-Jenkins plants like so many small weeds.

Esper, sometimes referencing his memorable performance as the creepy stalker in the David Bowie musical Lazaruskeeps us guessing all the time suitable As for Franz’s true nature: has it been restored and reformed? Or the hateful predator that Tony swore against?

Just as good as the couple (or soon), Gold (Rafa Roy N Succession) and Fanning (Catherine the Great on Hulu The Great) walks the line—well, treads on it, for the most part—between observation and participation in family fighting, illustrating Jacobs-Jenkins’s point that the sins of history taint even those who think they’re watching from a safe distance.

Campbell, in a brilliant Broadway debut as the sullen, ready-to-explode Reese, and Marvin (who nearly stole last season’s play). Gray house (Like the ghost of a Holocaust victim), the film picks up among the younger members of the Lafayette family, teenagers who carry the sins of their parents and grandparents in their very beings. suitable He doesn’t save them for their youth, but maybe, just maybe, he offers their young cousins ​​a moment of grace and possibility.

But not forgiveness. the future, suitable It suggests that she is burdened with a past as solid as any bloody tree, a point made in a stunning theatrical coup that unfolds after all the Lafayettes have left the stage. In an explosion of noise (those cicadas again, among other audio interjections, thanks to sound designers Bry Burr and Will Pickens), Gene Cox’s eerie lighting cues and the dot farm’s transformation from ramshackle to shabby, suitable It delivers an ending that is astonishing in its emotional power and astonishing in its theatricality. Neugebauer, Jacobs Jenkins, and their wonderful crew revive the spirits of history and leave them abandoned, noisy, stubborn, and not going anywhere any time soon.

Title: suitable
place: Broadway Theater Helen Hayes
written by: Branden Jacobs Jenkins
Directed by: Lily Neugebauer
ejaculate: Sarah Paulson, Corey Stoll, Michael Esper, Natalie Gould, Elle Fanning, Graham Campbell, Alyssa
Emily Marvin, Lincoln Cohen/Everett Sobers
Running time: 2 hours and 45 minutes (including break)