Robert O’Hara’s intentions are made clear just from the undeniably clever title of his new play receiving its world premiere at Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater. Yes, Shit. Meet. Fan. is meant to be provocative, and it achieves that goal in spades. The problem with provocation is that it tends to wear thin with repetition, and by the time the lengthy-feeling (but only 105 intermissionless minutes) evening reaches its conclusion you’ll be numbed by the playwright’s strenuous efforts. Despite the fine efforts of a star-studded cast and some very funny moments, the play eventually feels more trivial than incendiary.
The play is based on a 2016 Italian film, Perfect Strangers, that holds the interesting achievement of being recognized by Guiness World Records as being the most remade film of all time (there have been versions emanating from countries ranging from Armenia to Vietnam). The premise feels like something Edward Albee would have concocted if he were still writing in his prime during the age of smartphones. Seven friends gather at an upscale Brooklyn waterfront apartment for an eclipse-viewing party, made convenient by the upstairs balcony complete with expensive telescope. They unwisely decide to play an impromptu party game, a sort of updated technology version of the one in The Boys in the Band. For one hour, they will leave their phones on a coffee table and every incoming call, text and e-mail must be shared with the entire group. As the play’s title indicates, the shit soon meets the fan, with secrets bared and lives derailed.
[Read Melissa Rose Bernardo’s ★★★☆☆ review here.]
O’Hara, who also directed, has assembled a dream cast (clearly, there are hopes of a Broadway transfer) for this exercise, the performers clearly excited by the prospect of delivering the frequently hilarious one-liners in this extremely dark comedy. Neil Patrick Harris and Jane Krakowski play the party’s hosts Rodger and Eve, who are preoccupied by the recent discovery that their 17-year-old daughter Sam (Genevieve Hannelius) is in possession of a “value pack” of condoms. Debra Messing and Garret Dillahunt play Claire and Brett, whose marriage is obviously under some strain. Michael Oberholtzer (Take Me Out) and Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians) play Frank and Hannah, still basking in their newlywed status. And Trammell Tillman (Apple TV’s Severance) plays Logan, their still-single Black friend who has arrived solo because his girlfriend has a fever.
The first call, involving lascivious heavy breathing, provides one of the play’s funniest moments. But soon things start to turn ugly, with Hannah taking a call from her sex-addict ex-boyfriend, Claire receiving a voicemail message revealing that she had been secretly planning on putting Brett’s elderly mother in a nursing home, Rodger fielding a call from their daughter in which she displays her deep hostility toward her mother and announces that she’s about to have sex for the first time with her boyfriend. And when Brett convinces Logan to switch phones with him because of a daily dirty video he receives from a woman showcasing her “talking vagina,” it results in even more damaging ramifications.
And so it goes, with previously hidden hostilities bared and friendships and marriages unraveling. Along the way, there’s an impromptu dance party to a hip-hop song and a bizarre episode involving some sort of S&M relationship between Rodger and Frank that, frankly, doesn’t make much sense.
The playwright, no stranger to pushing the envelope as evidenced by such works as Insurrection: Holding History and Bootycandy, clearly means to explore themes including white privilege, toxic masculinity, and social and racial tensions. But few of the play’s ideas really resonate, with the sheer piling-on lapsing into absurdity. Unfortunately, it’s not the well-honed, pitch-perfect absurdity as practiced by, say, Luis Bunuel, but rather a sitcomish straining for laughs and shocks that prove increasingly cheap. O’Hara attempts to explain it away with an ending that puts all of the previous events in a different perspective. But it doesn’t really work either, except to more clearly explicate the play’s essential theme.
Nonetheless, Shit. Meet. Fan. (the title is really fun) proves entertaining thanks to many witty lines and the skillful comic performances of its ensemble, several of whom have honed their chops on hit television sitcoms. All of them do excellent work, with Messing practically stealing the show with her uproarious line readings, facial expressions and body language. And it all looks terrific, thanks not only to the highly attractive performers but also Clint Ramos’ elegant bi-level set design that will induce apartment envy.
Shit. Meet. Fan. opened November 18, 2024, at the MCC Theater Space and runs through December 15. Tickets and information: mcctheater.org
