The characters in this comedy aren't so much funny as they are insufferable
Joshua Harmon's "Bad Jews," now running at New Brunswick's George Street Playhouse, is a drama about insufferable characters with seemingly irreconcilable disagreements and enough anger to fill the Hudson River -- once, that is, it spills out of the stylish Upper West Side studio that is the play's setting (Charlie Corcoran's attractive set is a rare production highlight).
This makes for a show full of bitter argument but not much drama. Part of the problem is that Harmon -- whose latest play, "Significant Other," is now playing on Broadway -- is so concerned with crafting characters that grate powerfully on each other's nerves that he does not leave much room for them to connect with the audience. Insufferable characters are insufferable almost universally.
Also at issue here is that the time spent ranting overpowers any nuance; complicated family and religious tensions get drowned out by the screeches of personal bitterness. At its core, "Bad Jews" -- which first premiered off-Broadway in 2012, and has proven a hit at regional theaters around the country -- deals with important and challenging issues, and occasionally the play does find a brief respite from shouting matches to hit some tender, moving notes, especially in its final image. Much more often, however, the play is vehement, blunt, and uninviting.
The melee unfolds in the studio apartment of college-student Jonah (Amos VanderPoel), whose cousin Daphna (Laura Lapidus) has come to stay while the family mourns the death of their patriarch -- "Poppy"-- with a funeral and shiva. Daphna is on edge because of the impending arrival of Jonah's brother Liam (Alec Silberblatt) and his new girlfriend Melody (Maddie Jo Landers). Daphna and Liam have never gotten along, and the latter missing Poppy's funeral because he had lost his phone on a ski trip has only enraged Daphna further. The promise of Liam bringing his new WASPy blonde girlfriend doesn't help.
At the heart of Daphna's anger is the feeling that Jewishness is central to her identity, and that Liam's turn toward secularity is an affront to her and her family. For his part, Liam has little interest in trying to sooth Daphna's anger or defend his lifestyle: he simply meets her aggression with a healthy dose of his own. Both seem to believe that yelling louder and longer is the key to victory. At particular issue is the fate of a cherished family relic from Poppy, but it seems clear that the two would go to battle similarly over the last banana if they had to. These are two people who can do nothing but prod each other to extremes.
But their bitterness makes for a cloying 90 minutes. Director Jessica Stone (recently the architect of a fabulous, all-male "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" at Two River) struggles to find room for comedy here, as Harmon's script demands that his characters spend so much time in full-rant-mode. Perhaps their diatribes are supposed to be funny in their form, but that's a stretch.
The actors also seem curtailed by their playwright's insistence on anger without development. The one possible exception is VanderPoel's Jonah who would just like to stay out of the fracas as much as possible. The actor nonetheless finds space to show that Jonah does bear some familial loyalties that cannot be so easily disregarded.
In fact, it's Jonah who delivers the play's most resonant line, late in the proceedings: "I'm done. I'm tired. I just want to go to bed." Me too, Jonah, me too.
Bad Jews
George Street Playhouse
9 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick
Tickets: $17-$69; available online www.GSPonline.org or by phone (732) 246-7717. Running through April 6.
Patrick Maley may be reached at patrickjmaley@gmail.com. Find him on Twitter @PatrickJMaley. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.