Review - Clybourne Park, plus a yummy new-to-me restaurant

Since it has been a couple of weeks since I've seen a show, and since several shows are closing this weekend, I decided to check out TDF and see what was what.  When Clybourne Park popped up, I grabbed a ticket.  Although I'd seen the show at Steppenwolf last year, I hadn't gotten around to seeing it here.  My bad.  I'm glad to have corrected my error.

When I saw the play last year, here was my brief review: 

I also saw the Steppenwolf production of Clybourne Park when I was in Chicago last week.  I wish I had seen the Playwrights Horizons production last year, but I’m happy to hear the show may come back to New York in the spring.  I very much enjoyed the production at Steppenwolf and thought the play was quite thought-provoking and funny.  I’ll admit that my expectations were probably sky high and maybe the play didn’t fulfill them, but that’s my problem and not the play’s.  The gent playing the father in the first act was fantastic, but the entire acting ensemble was very good.  If the performances were a little too stylized for my tastes, I think it’s inherent in the play, since the NY Times review mentioned this quality in the PH production as well.  And I think I quibble with the necessity of the coda, but again that’s probably me and not the play.  But I had a great time seeing the show with friends—we had a lively discussion about it all the way back to Evanston, which is always fun fun fun!

 

I pretty much felt the exact same way last night, though I think knowing more about how the puzzle pieces fit together in the script added to my enjoyment more.  I also think that the set design for the Broadway production worked better for me than the set design in Chicago.  Not that there were a lot of differences - much of the set design is dictated by the script.  But everything seemed to flow more organically to me in this space.

 

I think this cast is terrific, led by the ever-fantastic Frank Wood (one of my uber-faves).  Perhaps his role is the best-written, since I enjoyed the performance of his Chicago counterpart as well, but Frank finds so many layers to this haunted man.  He simmers and keeps things hidden, but when he finally lets his rage and pain out, wow.  Just the way he uses the word 'community' as a curse is powerful.  I loved him.

 

I will say I found the actress playing his wife a little much, though, again, I think it's inherent in the script.  But, after seeing several of the same actor tics in the second act (where she's playing a totally different character), I'm thinking that maybe a little of this actress goes a long way.  And that's just me.  The rest of the audience adored her.  I did find her affecting and funny at times in the first act, but sometimes, she went so far, my mind just rebelled.  I mean, is she supposed to be so distracting that you literally can't hear what she's saying?  I don't know.  I imagine that's a perfectly valid interpretation.  That doesn't negate my opinion that she could perhaps pull back a bit to make more of a positive impact. 

 

Maybe a spoiler here, so beware: I'm still iffy on the play's coda, which probably worked better in this staging, and I guess it does make sense to me intellectually, but I'm still not sold on it.  We already know the pain and suffering lingers, so seeing the physical manifestation of it seems redundant to me.  Again--quibbling.  Although I think I preferred Chinglish as a play, Clybourne Park is still a wonderfully worthy Best Play-winner and I am glad I took the time to see it again.

 

Last Wednesday, an old chum invited me to a spur-of-the-moment dinner.  I was in the mood for something Mediterranean, so when my chum suggested Naya on the east side, I looked at their menu and thought "perfect!".   This Lebanese restaurant is pretty small (and narrow!), but it's attractive and classy, with delicious food.  The menu has lots of small plates, or mezze, so I chose a few vegetarian options, while my friend also enjoyed a lamb entree (I looked at it longingly).

 

We got an order of moudardara, which was lentils, rice and fried onions (so yummy, I need to find a recipe); an order of cucumber/yogurt dip (always a summertime favorite of mine); and some spicy hummus (a tad too spicy for me, I must admit).  I also got some pan-seared halloumi cheese, with a delicious pomegranate reduction (really delicious--salty cheese and sweet sauce!!), and a fattoush salad - the sumac vinaigrette was really earthy, pungent and delicious!  And I always love a salad that has crispy bread products on top.  :) 

 

Thumbs way up on Naya and I definitely want to go back and try the tabbouli and some of their other vegetarian options.  It's so small, though, so if you want to give it a try, too, make a reservation.

 

Sadly, Summer Fridays end today and I'm feeling a little under the weather, so...no adventure.  Just some quality couch-time and tennis-viewing.  Nothing wrong with that, though.  I love me some US Open.  I believe there could be one more post about tennis in this blog's future...