The stars are bright and very close in Steve Martin’s newest play “Meteor Shower” now playing at the Old Globe Theatre. Martin’s absurdist comedy brings the stars of the heaven and stars from Hollywood to the Globe stage.
Norm and Corky invite a mysterious new couple to their home for dinner and a great view of the meteor shower. This new couple surprises Norm and Corky with a bottle of wine — the good $80 kind — and an evening of intentional chaos. This mysterious couple, Gerald and Laura, has visited other families in the neighborhood and has left behind a few ruined marriages in their wake.
Martin is well-known for his comedic work in television and film, but “Meteor Shower” is his first adult comedy for the stage. The humor of the play is both absurd and incredibly realistic. It creates an interesting combination that doesn’t always hit its marks.
The banter between husband and wife will be familiar for many audience members. Martin deftly shifts the banter when Corky and Norm have an audience in their visitors. The contrast between how we speak to each other when we are alone to when we know strangers are watching creates some strong humor.
However, in other scenes the audacious exploits of the dinner guests feels awkward and poorly transitioned. The balance between absurdity and realism is difficult to strike; the grounding for the departure from reality often feels thin or absent.
Audiences familiar and fond of Martin’s comedy will appreciate Greg Germann’s twitchily perfect performance as Norm.
Germann’s channeling of Martin’s iconic body postures and lovable cluelessness is superb. Norm is a pretty normal guy who is devoted to his wife and happily ensconced in a khaki world until the guest arrive and upend his world. Germann’s nervous squint and shy smile create a guy who you are happy to root for. Jenna Fischer, as Norm’s wife Corky, brings a less commanding performance. Fischer’s Corky feels uncertain and performative.
“Meteor Shower” is playing at the Old Globe Theatre through Sept. 18 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre at the Old Globe with performances Tuesday through Sunday. Tickets are available at (619) 23-GLOBE, at www.TheOldGlobe.org, or at the Globe box office. Ticket prices start at $49 with additional discounts for youths.
‘Love’s Labor’s Lost”: If it ain’t baroque, don’t fix it.
“Love’s Labor’s Lost” at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park sets the bard’s play in a lush and beautiful world of baroque gardens.
The Globe’s outdoor festival theater is an idyllic setting for William Shakespeare’s romantic tale of playful love. The King and his three closest nobles swear to lock themselves away for a period of three years so that they can study and work and turn the court into a center for learning.
In the oaths they promise to neither see nor speak to a woman for that time. Only the witty Berowne seems to have any reservation about the arrangement, but he is eventually convinced to agree. But before the ink has even dried on the oath, the men remember that the Princess of France will be coming to visit. The men swear to keep up their oaths, but cupid quickly overtakes their promises when the women arrive.
“Love’s Labor’s Lost” is interesting because it is one of the few Shakespearian comedies that does not end with a collection of weddings. The entire focus of the play is love and how to find ways to love. Shakespeare’s language in the play has a number of insights about the nature of love and its effect on both men and women.
The couples play jests on each other, hiding their identity and mocking each other good naturedy, but eventually the couples all end up together. Yet, the sudden announcement of tragedy — the King of France has died — tinges the play with somberness. This expected news grounds the comedy and returns the men to their promised monastic study.
Kathleen Marshall directs the play with an acute awareness of the need to ground the comedy. As the Broadway director of huge musicals including “Anything Goes,” “The Pajama Game,” “Grease” and “Little Shop of Horrors,” Marshall is well acquainted with peppy dance numbers and spectacle.
This production of “Love’s Labor’s Lost” has moments of musical theater joy — especially wonderful is the nutcracker dance number when the men disguise themselves as Russians to see the girls in-person without breaking their vows.
These moments shine with the skilled hand of such an experienced director, but the levity never becomes saccharine.
Marshall describes the paintings of the French Rococo period as her visual inspiration for “Love’s Labor’s Lost.” The era’s lush garden images and thematic focus on romance translates to an onstage world that is green and verdant. A world that, except for small unnecessary anachronisms in Michael Krass’s costume design, creates an enjoyable and frothy world of romantic focus.
“Love’s Labor’s Lost” is playing at the Old Globe Theatre through Sept. 18 in the Festival Theatre at the Old Globe with performances Tuesday through Sunday. Tickets are available at (619) 23-GLOBE, at www.TheOldGlobe.org, or at the Globe box office. Ticket prices start at $29 with additional discounts for youths.
