“The Oldest Boy” at Lincoln Center Theatre (Through Sunday December 28th 2014)
“The Oldest Boy” at Lincoln Center Theatre (Through Sunday December 28th 2014)
Written by Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Rebecca Taichman
Reviewed by Sander Gusinow, Theatre Reviews Limited
I count myself among the lucid minority not ensorcelled by Sarah Ruhl. Her innocuous ‘tea-and-cookies’ approach to drama lazily encourages an audience to leave their brains at the door. To top it off, her popularity is circumstantial evidence that women writers can only be taken seriously when writing superfluous subject matter. And yet, against all my misgivings, Ruhl finds her element in ”The Oldest Boy” currently playing at Lincoln Center.
Like the rest of her plays, the premise is elegantly simplistic; a mother’s world convulses when a pair of Buddhist Monks claim the child as the reincarnation of their old teacher. Ruhl is up to her old tricks, wittily poking fun at upper-middle class convention, while crafting sequences of light poetry and airy, pseudomagical humdrum. But this humdrum couldn’t have been put to better use. The principles of Buddhism are at home in Ruhl’s hands. It’s easy to scoff at the alleged spiritual significance of a cell phone, but the cycle of Samsara? Yes, Ms. Ruhl, this time you’ve got it right. She actually mentions the concept God not once, not twice, but often, and to her play’s credit. It’s nice to see Sarah in her thinking cap.
Even so, Ruhl’s trademark timidity bridals the plays’ potential. It’s so blatantly obvious the child is the reincarnation of the old sage, the protagonist mother (Celia Keenan-Bolger) is almost unlikable in her reluctance. The misogynistic nature of Buddhist tradition is comic fodder, rather than pertinent issues in their own right. But despite the occasional misgiving, the play is alive with color, energy and thought. The core story of a woman’s journey of greater understanding, and finding the strength to obey that understanding never leaves Ruhl’s crosshairs (excluding a forgettable side-plot involving the mother’s magniloquent return to academia).
Glitteringly directed by Rebecca Taichman, Rich Tibetan traditions as well as simplistic scene work are brought vividly to life. The show employs a Lion King-esque puppet as the young boy, skillfully circumventing the trappings of a child actor (if only Terrence McNally had been so forward-thinking) and cleverly referencing the Buddhist body/spirit dichotomy. At first the doll is downright creepy, but much like its predecessor “Warhorse,” the doll succeeds in becoming a character through the skill of its operators and the virtues of his scene partners.
Ruhl’s detractors keep getting louder and louder, but trust me when I say this is the first of her plays to seriously invite the audience to dinner. The question of whether or not we incorporate spirituality in our decisions, and a mother’s unyielding love for her child gives the show its emotional core. If you’re not at all interested in Buddhist philosophy, this play may not be your cup of butter-and-salt tea, but for a playwright so successful, Ruhl’s continued evolution is nothing if not admirable. As an occasional detractor myself, I was pleasantly surprised by “The Oldest Boy,” and caught myself thinking, for the very first time, ‘What will she do next?’
By Sarah Ruhl; directed by Rebecca Taichman; sets Mimi Lien; costumes Anita Yavich; LIghting Japhy Weideman; sound Darron L.West; puppet design/direction Matt Acheson; choreography Barney O'Hanlon; stage manager Charles M. Turner III; at Lincoln Center Theatre, 150 W. 65th Street, (212) 239-6200. Through Sunday December 28th 2014. Running time: 2 hours, with a ten-minute intermission.
With Ernest Abuba, Tsering Dorje, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Takemi Kitamura, James Saito, Jon Norman Schneider, James Yaegashi, and Nami Yamamoto.
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