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An Unearned Hangover
The meretricious dialogue and plot of A Perfect Future will leave you with a headache
By Mark Peikert
 Donna Bullock as Natalie and Michael T. Weiss in A Perfect Future / Photo by Richard Termine |
Set during one of those drunken, antagonistic dinner parties that are so popular on the stage, but which, in real life, any self-respecting guest would flee after 15 minutes, A Perfect Future pits former '60s flower children John (Michael T. Weiss), his wife Natalie (Donna Bullock) and their friend from college Elliot (Daniel Oreskes) against John's twentysomething employee Mark (Scott Drummond).
Setting his play in 2005 allows Hay to make some sweeping generalizations about the youth of today--notably that they lack the political passion that consumed college students in the '60s and '70s. Bypassing the pesky matter of Barack Obama and his successful grassroots campaign, Hay manages to prove that he doesn't actually know any twentysomethings. Would a young, khaki-clad homosexual man in his twenties really tell a joke at his boss' dinner party that involved the "n" word in the punchline?
Of course, John is also the type of successful capitalist who has a framed photo of Fidel Castro in his living room, while Elliot is the type of radical gay man who still respects Castro, no matter his unfortunate attitude towards homosexuals. There aren't really any nuances to Hay's characters, and director Wilson Milam doesn't impose any in his work with the cast. If John has turned his back on the idealism of his youth, then he must be a preening asshole with a private sommelier, and who thinks that all African Americans should be in jail for being animals. And if Natalie is trapped in an abusive marriage, then she must be addicted to anti-depressants and have an affair with a former Black Panther to assuage her liberal guilt. And of course, the middle-aged gay man has a lover who died of complications from AIDS. Is Next Fall really the only non-AIDS related death of a gay man in recent theatrical memory?
For 90 minutes, this quartet of friends, lovers and idealists tread the same tired ground: the freedom of the '60s, the distressing apathy of today's youth, the importance of writing checks for liberal causes--all while drinking heavily, the refuge of the creatively-challenged. How can an audience not have fun watching four adults get wasted on stage? And what actors can resist a chewy drunk scene? Certainly not Bullock, who turns into Judy Garland by the play's end.
The cast all commit with a resolve that is as impressive as it is doomed. Weiss is giving a stellar Chris Noth impression as the priggish John; Bullock cannot be faulted for the unintentional humor that accompanies her cry of rage as she throws a handful of what are supposed to be pills, but which look more like orange Tic-Tacs. And Drummond masterfully rises above his poorly conceived character (Hay actually assures audiences that Mark isn't a racist because he once had a black boyfriend) to become the only rational character on stage--that ridiculous joke excepted. Still, Hay's contrived situations and clunky dialogue seemed to resonate with some of the audience at the performance I attended. Just beware: That sound you hear at the play's end isn't applause; it's a liberal New York audience patting itself on the back.
A Perfect Future
Open run, Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce St. (at Bedford St.), 212-239-6200; $69.
©2008 New York Press.
