Ethan Coen is best known as the filmmaker who, along with his brother Joel, has given us such memorable films as Fargo, No Country for Old Men, The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Blood Simple and one of my favorites, The Hudsucker Proxy. He’s also known as a playwright, but mainly on the East Coast where his plays have been widely performed. So it is with great anticipation that an evening of short plays by Coen, A Play Is a Poem, is having its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum through October 13th.
There appear to be four stories in A Play Is a Poem with varying settings: Appalachia, New York, Mississippi and Hollywood. I can think of few other writers who could potentially find not just a way of linking the four pieces together, but also giving us something to think about that serves as the thematic glue for the evening. And of course, there will be humor.
One exciting component of A Play Is a Poem is that Nellie McKay, who is one of our finest singer/songwriters, has written new music for the show and will be performing it live.
In addition to McKay, the cast includes Ro Boddie, Max Casella, Micaela Diamond, Peter Jacobson, Jason Kravits, Saul Rubinek, Miriam Silverman, Joey Slotnick, Sam Vartholomeos and C.J. Wilson.
Neil Pepe, of the Atlantic Theatre Company in New York, directs. The show will play at the Atlantic Theatre Company in May, 2020.
At press time the show runs approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes and will be performed without an intermission. It does come with an advisory that there is strong language and violence in A Play Is a Poem. Imagine that, strong language and violence in a play written by Ethan Coen.
For tickets go here.
Photo: Joey Slotnick, Max Casella and C.J. Wilson in A Play Is a Poem (Photo by Craig Schwartz/Courtesy of Center Theatre Group)