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Article IndexSatirical comedy about contemporary theater turns into an ugly confrontation
BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
OFF BROADWAY REVIEW
A world premiere presented by MCC Theater, which nearly always comes up with intriguing new plays, “The Submission” begins as a comedy regarding the contemporary theater scene and then unexpectedly twists into an ugly face-off regarding racism.
Opening last week at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, “The Submission” reveals newcomer Jeff Talbott as a promising playwright with a flair for natural-sounding conversation and a keen eye for characters.
Talbott’s contemporary story regards Danny, a young, white and “very, very gay” writer who crafts what appears to be a knock-out drama. Danny’s problem is that his play concerns an underprivileged African-American family and he fears that no theaters will ever consider it once they realize who wrote it.
Danny’s solution is to submit his work under a pseudonym and — after it is accepted into the prestigious Humana Festival for a production — to hire Emilie, a black actress, to pretend to be the playwright. That’s all well and good for Danny, although this duplicitous plan is indicative of his slippery nature.
As his play gets into rehearsal, Danny is increasingly maddened when trying to deal with revisions and other authorial decisions by remote control through Emilie. Danny also is irked that Emilie gets to enjoy associating with celebrated collaborators and otherwise bask in their accolades regarding his work.
So far “The Submission” succeeds very nicely as a satiric comedy regarding the American theater scene, although one wonders how a terribly glib fellow like Danny could produce what others believe is a genuine masterpiece (and by all descriptions of it, his opus does not sound so earthshaking). Still, Talbott’s dialogue is peppery, the characters are amusing and his observations on theater are sharp.
Then Danny’s increasingly edgy relationship with Emilie explodes when his breezy way with ethnic presumptions drives them into a bitter confrontation that sees both trading the foulest of six-letter words for black and gay people. A disconsolate conclusion is shared by several others in Danny’s world.While “The Submission” gives viewers plenty to talk about afterwards – always a sure sign of a worthy play – the penultimate switch from comedy into drama, while foreshadowed a bit by Talbott, tends to be jarring and not altogether convincing.
