I caught “Ohio State Murders” late in its truncated stay on Broadway, at the handsomely refurbished and newly re-christened James Earl Jones Theatre, formerly the Cort. It closes on Sunday, unfortunately, after about five weeks of performances, a victim perhaps of misplaced optimism. That hopefulness being a skewed vision of Broadway, one that views it as a healthy environment for a play with a shattering perspective and an ominous- sounding title. Not even the scalding contributions of a six-time Tony-winning star could save it.
The fact is that challenging themes don’t find much traction on Broadway anymore, and it’s the Broadway establishment’s own fault. In its zeal to cultivate a tourist audience, which now makes up the majority of ticket buyers, Broadway essentially turned its back on audiences for serious work: Almost every meritorious play, and even some fine, nuanced musicals, struggle bravely and then don’t last. Last June’s irreverently original, Tony-winning musical “A Strange Loop” is already in January’s departure lounge, and critical fall hits such as Suzan-Lori Parks’s “Topdog/Underdog” fade quickly at the box office, after initial excited buzz.
January, by the way, is a traditional end-of-days for many Broadway productions, both long-running and short, because the winter months are the ticket-buying ebb. Post-pandemic, the low tide has gotten even lower. Though Broadway trumpeted its huge business Christmas week, folks in the business inform me that the horns will soon go back to mute. But fear not! In the months to come, we can look forward to two more Broadway shows that feature Cinderella — Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Bad Cinderella” and the Britney Spears fairy-tale musical “Once Upon a One More Time” — and another that focuses on Peter Pan. Really.
Allow me, meantime, to memorialize “Ohio State Murders” with a few kind words. Leon’s staging of Kennedy’s 1991 play marked the Broadway debut for the 91-year-old playwright, and that is certainly reason to be grateful. In the most vivid way possible, her stunningly original voice has at last been heard on the theater’s most visible platform, and I mean that literally: Before the play begins, a recording of an interview with Kennedy plays over the PA system, in which the dramatist sounds vibrantly alive — like the central character of her play, Suzanne Alexander.
“Ohio State Murders” is Alexander’s harrowing account of her experience as a Black student at the Midwestern university in the early 1950s, when she is seduced by a White English professor, played by an eerily taciturn Bryce Pinkham. On Beowulf Boritt’s haunting set, enveloped in a paradoxically comforting blanket of perpetually falling snow, Suzanne unspools the details of her sad tale. Like one of those snowflakes, she’s swept up in a storm of events that swirl out of her control. Ultimately, the promise of talent and youth is besmirched by racism and convulsed by tragedy.
McDonald brings a wrenching dignity to the proceedings, holding back on a full expression of Suzanne’s suffering until the very end, when she leaves us with Kennedy’s anguishing final line. Seventy-five minutes is all it takes for Leon, Kennedy and McDonald to sweep us, too, into the maelstrom. I’m just sorry the storm is passing so quickly.
An upbeat outcome emanates from the Connelly Theater, a 160-seat gem in the East Village where Berlant has returned for a second run of her uproarious tour de force “Kate.” A loving sendup of the vanities and vicissitudes of the actor’s life, “Kate” nestles cozily into this intimate space — even if Berlant kids us with complaints that the Connelly is too small to make her much money.
The piece is delightfully meta-theatrical, a mischievous personal assault on the glittery illusion of showbiz success and a taunting exposé of Berlant’s own ambitions. Her operatically devastating failing is not being able to shed a tear on cue. In an age of glycerin and CGI, it seems, casting directors still want the natural salty variety. Planting herself in front of a tripod, Berlant invites the lens to examine her elastic expressions, as she modulates her emotion for the stage, then television, then film. There’s range in her gazes, but no teardrops — the funny curse of the dry eye in the house.
Berlant also cracks wise about the pretensions of theater, but love of the form is at the heart of “Kate.” She finds a sweet spot downtown for her sleek, smart comedy, and thank goodness for that perfect fit.
Ohio State Murders, by Adrienne Kennedy. Directed by Kenny Leon. Set, Beowulf Boritt; costumes, Dede Ayite; lighting, Allen Lee Hughes; sound, Justin Ellington; projections, Jeff Sugg. With Lizan Mitchell, Mister Fitzgerald, Abigail Stephenson. About 1 hour 15 minutes. At the James Earl Jones Theatre, 138 W. 48th St., New York. telecharge.com.
Kate, performed by Kate Berlant. Directed by Bo Burnham. About 1 hour 20 minutes. Through Feb. 10 at the Connelly Theater, 220 E. Fourth St., New York. connellytheater.org.
