Experienced theatergoers are well aware of the dread of seeing a one-person show. Struggling to concentrate while the person onstage drones on and on, regaling us with their life story which frequently includes suffering from one form of addiction or abuse or another, struggling with an emotional or physical disability, and confusion over sexual identity. Sometimes the actor plays multiple characters, seeming to struggle with multiple personality disorder as they shift from one persona to another in rapid-fire. By the time the show concludes, you’re often as exhausted as the performer.
That’s thankfully not the case with The Unknown, receiving its world premiere at Off-Broadway’s Studio Seaview. Starring Sean Hayes, this endlessly tricky solo drama by David Cale is less a confessional monologue than a scarily gothic tale of shifting identities. It’s the rare one-person play that you can imagine as a fully fleshed-out film, perhaps directed by Brian De Palma.
The story is told by Elliott (Hayes), a playwright/composer and sometimes actor, who tells us about how, in an effort to overcome a lingering case of writer’s block, he accepts an offer from his friends Larry and Chloe to use their house in upstate New York as a retreat. Located on a hill in the middle of the woods, the house has no phone or internet service, guaranteeing no distractions. It also seems the perfect setting for, say, a stage thriller.
And so it is, with Elliott interrupted on his first night there by a male voice singing coming from various places outside the house. Even more eerily, the man is singing a song Elliott wrote, called “I Wish You’d Wanted Me.” Pay attention, as the song title provides a clue.
To say much more would be to spoil the clever surprises that Cale has in store for us. Suffice it to say that Elliott goes down a rabbit hole involving stalking, some very bad personal choices, and encounters with people who may or not be who they say they are. And he does so with a healthy sense of humor. “In the movies, this is where the music would first come in,” he tells us during one particularly tense moment.
Coming on the heels of his masterful performance as Oscar Levant in Good Night, Oscar, Hayes delivers yet another superb turn, easily shifting amongst multiple characters in a manner that feels less show-offy than organic. He holds your attention throughout the play’s uninterrupted 80-minute running time, his natural charisma and likability making you fully sympathetic to Elliott’s plight even as the plotting turns ever more baroque.
Director Leigh Silverman has staged the proceedings in expertly atmospheric fashion, abetted by the ominous lighting and sound effects by Cha See and Caroline Eng respectively, and Isobel Waller-Bridge’s nerve-jangling music.
Cale, whom you could just as easily imagine playing the role himself, eventually reveals even more tricks up his sleeve, reflecting on identity and entering into meta territory. While not fully successful in its narrative machinations, The Unknown proves intriguing from first moment to last.
The Unknown opened February 12, 2025 at Studio Seaview and runs through April 12. Tickets and information: studioseaview.com
