Thoughts on The Qualms and the Return of Summer Fridays

I very much enjoyed Bruce Norris' Clybourne Park and saw it several times.  I'm sorry I missed his last show at Lincoln Center, so when TDF tickets came up for his newest play at Playwrights Horizons, I pounced.  Previously produced by Steppenwolf, The Qualms is still in early previews, so I'll only offer a few thoughts.

The Qualms is a dark comedy about a "swinger" community, with several couples who enjoy each other's company, both as friends and in the Biblical sense.  When a new couple arrives, everyone's ideas about sex and politics are challenged.  Like in previous plays, Norris takes the point of view of priviliged white Americans, who may not like talking about sex, but they definitely want to intentionally provoke and assert their rightness in all subjects, including sex.

Photo credit: Joan Marcus

One half of the new couple, Chris (terrifically played by Jeremy Shamos) at first seems to be  entirely reasonable in his doubts and discomfort, but he turns out to be (of course) the most small-minded and ugly of the group.  But each character has their good and bad points, and we hear about them all during the 90-minute intermissionless play.

The Qualms is often hysterically funny and often very thought-provoking.  The cast is first-rate, all eight of them.  One actor reminded me so much of an old boyfriend, I was giggling and having deja vu frequently during the afternoon.  One character is someone I should be playing, should I ever exit my semi-retirement from acting.  I enjoyed myself a great deal at the play, and have been thinking about several aspects of it since yesterday, though I'm not sure The Qualms is as strong a play as Clybourne Park, as a whole.  For a play that talked a lot about sex, I imagined there would BE more sex (though that might have been Norris' point, people talk about it and don't do it), and there were a LOT of topics brought up to think about - maybe too many?  I'm not sure.  I also thought it seemed as if Norris had a hard time deciding how to end the play, so the penultimate scene felt diffuse (though there is one writer/director collaboration that is rather brilliant), but I did feel satisfied by the very end.  I liked seeing The Qualms and may try to go back later in the run, just to see if my initial impressions were correct.  If you like a rather dark sex comedy, you'll enjoy it, too, I think.  Just a couple of audience neighbor observations:  golly, the subscribers (at least I assume they were subscribers) in the lobby before the show should perhaps step outside when they talk on their cell phones, or start to practice using their indoor voice.  Hearing about a guy's prostate during one call and a gal's distate for a current Broadway show wasn't really the way I wanted to start my afternoon.  :)

Going back two days, last Friday I had a fun afternoon with some work chums when we took advantage of Summer Friday and walked over to Gotham West Market to have some lunch and, more importantly, ICE CREAM.  One work chum had proclaimed the ice cream from Ample Hills Creamery as the best in NY (apparently Zagat's does, too).  Of course, I considered that a challenge and had to try it.  Before the ice cream, though, we sat at the tapas bar at El Comado.  I wanted to try nearly everything on their menu, but had to watch my budget.  I settled on the pan con tomate, my chum choose the patatas bravas, and we shared a finger sandwich with Serrano ham, manchego cheese and membrillo.  Everything was DELICIOUS.  I especially loved the pan con tomate and even dreamed about it last night.  I supposed I could make some for myself, but it never tastes as good.

Ample Hills had so many yummy-sounding flavors Friday - I tasted the salted crack caramel flavor, which was terrific, but I didn't think I could eat a whole dish of it.  I wanted to try the snap, mallow & pop flavor, but they were out.  I settled on the raw deal, which is vanilla ice cream with chocolate flakes and brown sugar cookie dough.  YUM. Serious YUM.  I may have to sample a few other ice creams before declaring it 'the best,' but that's a challenge I look forward to, lol.  My nephew will be visiting in a few weeks, maybe he'll want to take on that challenge with me...