Review - A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney

Wow, that's quite a mouthful of a title, isn't it?  A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney.  But very intriguing, yes?  I thought so.  This play, by Lucas Hnath, is now running at Soho Rep.  I've seen a couple of things by Hnath and I like his work very much.  Plus, this production stars two of my favorites, Larry Pine and Frank Wood, AND it's about Walt Disney, so, hello, clearly I wasn't going to miss this one.

A Public Reading... is dark and funny and disturbing and enlightening and a ton of fun.  All in 75 minutes!  That's quite a feat, if you ask me.  The four-person cast is terrific, handling Hnath's sometimes-fragmented dialogue very well.  For a play that takes place around a conference room table, there's still a lot to see (and hear).  Soho Rep has put together a razor-sharp physical production, directed beautifully by Sarah Benson. 

Larry Pine, who doesn't really look like Walt Disney, yet does, plays the famed father of family entertainment as a chain-smoking, vodka-guzzling megalomaniac, who directs and performs this screenplay of his life in as controlling a manner as he controlled his business.  It's actually a cool juxtaposition - you think of warmth and happy family when you think of "Disney," and here, you see no warmth and no happy family.  In his attempts to control the world and make things perfectly in his own vision, Walt Disney has lost sight of his family, his humanity and his own mortality.  He doesn't care what he says or what he does, he just has to get his own way.  I think the play is using the familiar, well-known figure to explore man's desire to have total control over everything.

I winced the first time Walt Disney said 'f*ck.'  I admit it.  And then I got over it.  This profane, driven man, who is so superbly embodied by Pine, is so relentless and so charismatic, that you're along for whatever ride he takes you on.  Whether he's endorsing liberal editing in his nature documentaries, or figuring out a way to avoid looking bad during a strike, or telling his son-in-law to blame everything on the long-suffering Roy (Disney's brother and business guru), this incarnation of Walt Disney is endlessly fascinating.

Frank Wood is fantastic as Roy Disney.  Of course, I always think Frank Wood is fantastic.  I love him.  Moving on.  The more Walt puts him down, the quieter Roy gets, but he still comes up with the ideas and the methodology that will put Walt's flights of fancy into reality.  Loyalty and family mean everything to Roy.  The two actors (Pine and Wood, ha!) have a wonderful rapport and play off each other beautifully.  Amanda Quaid and Brian Sgambati play Disney's daughter and son-in-law.  Even with Walt doing the editing and cutting of their dialogue, even as they're speaking it, you still get the sense of pain and disappointment the two young people had to go through as the offspring of a business giant.  Watching Walt denigrate his son-in-law, then later exalt the same son-in-law for the personal qualities he previously found worthy of denigration, was really interesting. 

Having Walt read all the 'stage directions' of the screenplay (Exterior; Close-Up; Cut To) was a terrfic conceit.  Whenever Walt spoke directly into the microphone on the conference table, he was giving us those directions.  As the evening progressed, the Cut To interjections came faster and faster, as Walt tried to continually shape the end of his life.  I'm not describing it very well, but I thought it was terrific.  There were some cool and surreal special effects (one I absolutely cannot figure out how it worked), as well.

I guess I just really like Hnath's world view, how he shapes his plays, and the way he handles dialogue.  Using overlapping dialogue can get to be a cliche, but he uses it very specifically and it's important in the construction of these fascinating characters.  It's both distancing and humanizing, at the same time, which I greatly admire.  This script really worked for me.

Pre-show notes:  the house didn't open until very close to curtain.  The usher told us we'd be getting programs on our way out (I didn't, btw).  The guy behind me in line said, "That's apparently the new thing."  I thought, really?  I haven't been to any shows this season where that happened.  Then I knew someone in the audience.  He asked if I had gotten a program and I said, no, they told me we'd get them after.  And HE said, "that's apparently the new thing."  Clearly I haven't been seeing shows at the right "new thing" theaters.  Oh, and the temperature of the theater pre-show was sub-arctic.  Happily, it warmed up as the show got started.  Good thing - I hate wearing my coat inside the theater.

This play is so different and unique, I don't think I'm summarizing it very well.  I just have to say I found it fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable.  The acting is fantastic and it's fun seeing popular culture mythology turned on its ear.  Do yourself a favor and get familiar with Lucas Hnath's work for yourself.  You'll be glad you did.