"Unusual Acts of Devotion' at PTC

I really looked forward to the world premiere of Terrence McNally’s Unusual Acts of Devotion. I’ve admired many of Terrence McNally’s plays, especially Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, The Lisbon Traviata, Master Class and Love! Valour! Compassion! And I feel an attachment to New York City, which is the setting and the essence of his new drama. I also share McNally’s passion for music, which occupies so much of his characters’ dialogue. And, to be sure, I was engrossed and occasionally moved by Unusual Acts of Devotion.

Nevertheless, I felt let down at the evening’s close.

The acting in this Philadelphia Theatre Company production is superb, the set impressive and the sound and lighting are exceptionally good. But the characterizations and the plot left me wanting more. Judged by McNally’s own high standards, Unusual Acts falls a bit short.

The exception is the character who, at first glance, seems peripheral. The elderly Mrs. Darnell is one of five residents of a Greenwich Village apartment building who gather on its roof on a hot summer evening with a panorama of skyscrapers as background.

The romance of New York, and the reality

Mrs. Darnell isn’t even given a first name. She’s dismissed by everyone else and, significantly, disappears from view for long stretches of time. The other four characters represent the thousands of young New Yorkers who imagine they live in some place more romantic than the tar rooftop of a tenement. Mrs. Darnell, on the other hand, epitomizes senior citizens who are shunted aside, ignored, rendered invisible in our youth-oriented society.

This role was at the center of McNally’s original conception. The play was built around her, and when Kathy Bates withdrew from that role, the opening of Unusual Acts of Devotion was postponed for a year, until now. Viola Harris brings this enigmatic character vividly to life.

The other residents enter one by one at a leisurely pace. Leo (an electric turn by Michael Aronov) is a musician who feels devoted to his pregnant wife Nadine (a sympathetic Ann Reeder) but sometimes strays. Chick (the equally impressive Richards Thomas) is a Gray Line tour guide desperate to connect with someone, regardless of age or gender. Josie (the fabulous Faith Prince) is just back from rehab and needs to be cared for.

McNally’s alter ego

But with all their stage time, the four fail to reveal much about themselves. McNally’s people love to speak in soliloquies; even their dialogues sound like dual soliloquies. Leo, a sensitive and interesting man, describes his city and expresses his feelings. This is McNally, speaking through his characters. As in earlier McNally plays, there’s also much interesting talk about music and singers as diverse as Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday and Giuseppe Di Stefano. It’s interesting stuff, but the people in the script never take on lives of their own.

In Act Two, as the characters start telling their secrets, the plot thickens. Some of the revelations sound like soap opera, but a surrealistic ending works well. With danger around them, and around us, we are reminded of people’s need for devotion, whether it’s friendship or whether they call it love.

It’s nice to see Faith Prince looking sexy again after her last Broadway role, in A Catered Affair, where she was convincing as a drab middle-aged woman. Leonard Foglia directs effectively, as he has done with other McNally plays, providing some interesting stage business.


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