In his early two character play Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, John Patrick Shanley asks a lot of his actors. They’re required to slap, punch, choke, whack, scream, hyperventilate, kiss, cuddle, dance violently, and make love all in the span of 80 minutes. It’s an intense character study, and while likened to a boxing match, just keep in mind there’s no break; the play runs without an intermission and I’m happy to report that Aubrey Plaza and Christopher Abbott are knockouts – figuratively speaking of course, though I did worry they might knock each other out during the more physically combative scenes.
Plaza and Abbott play very damaged souls – Roberta and Danny. They meet in a run-down Bronx bar where they both go to drown out their pain. She’s carrying around heavy guilt from a shameful sexual act in her past. He’s an anxiety-ridden bruiser, known as the “beast”, freely using his fists when the mood strikes. In his latest fight, he thinks he killed a man. They’re both lonely and desperate for emotional connection, no matter the form it might take. And here’s a hint, when two wired, self-destructive individuals get together, you can expect fireworks.
That’s an apt metaphor for a stylized dance sequence in the middle of the play as the two wounded warriors seem to erupt in a wild set of movements alternating between moments of tenderness and extreme violence. Credit movement directors, Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber, for the evocative interlude.
[Read Melissa Rose Bernardo’s ★★★★☆ review here.]
It’s also a shrewd move on the part of the director, Jeff Ward who picked up on the play’s subtitle: An Apache Dance. It refers to a savage duet originated in Paris featuring dancers throwing each other around in a ferocious pas de deux. In Danny…, the choreographed scene speaks volumes about the characters’ unhinged state.
Ward is making his directorial debut with this work and he proves his mettle with a deep understanding of his characters’ motivations and their shared suffering. As an actor himself, it’s easy to see why he chose to direct this piece. With so much to chew on, it’s a feast for actors. But it’s also quite a big challenge in the way that the whole thing could so easily turn melodramatic. In Ward’s hands, despite the high level of intensity in the writing, it all rings true.
Danny is a powder keg, which Christopher Abbott ignites over and over again with great relish. It’s a joy to see this seasoned stage veteran sink his teeth into the role. And he reveals tremendous versatility, delivering a full spectrum of emotions, from frenzied mania to gentle empathy. Consider how convincing he is instantly switching from threatening brute to pussycat, complimenting Roberta with the goofy line “your nose says hello”. It’s quite a stretch for any actor to pull off such an about face, but he is in full command on the stage and we can’t take our eyes off him.
Aubrey Plaza, making her professional stage debut, cements her acting cred with this performance. She’s established her talents on screens big and small but was, until now, untested in the theatrical realm. She’s clearly got the chops – her trademark deadpan and dry sense of humor (honed in the network series Parks and Recreation) is on full display here. But in this role which calls for a level of intimacy that we rarely see in her past performances, she nails it. When she tearfully exclaims “I’ve got a badness in me,” it’s an expression of raw vulnerability that feels genuinely heartrending.
The production is nicely enhanced by scenic designer Scott Pask’s dual bar and bedroom settings. And special mention to John Torres’ mood lighting with clever use of a shadowy effect.
The play is some 40 years old but it holds up quite nicely today. Though Shanley makes clear it’s set in the Bronx, there’s no other direction indicating a period in time. In fact, it might be even more timely now considering the alienating nature of technology in contemporary society as people share the same space yet feel so far apart. I’m not sure why the play has not had more New York revivals beyond the one in 2004. Danny and the Deep Blue Sea may be a small play but it has a big heart beating erratically beneath its turbulent surface.
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea opened November 13, 2023, at the Lortel Theatre and runs through January 7, 2024. Tickets and information: www.dannyandthedeepbluesea.com
