Preview Thoughts on Indecent

I'm a huge fan of Paula Vogel's work and I've been in theater-withdrawal lately - when I succumbed most recently to the siren song of TDF, I picked up a ticket to Vogel's new play, Indecent, now in previews at the Vineyard Theatre.  Since the show doesn't open for a couple more weeks, I'll only offer a few thoughts.

Starting with:  OH.MY.GOD.  Go. Go. Go. Go. Go. Go. Go. Go. Go. Go. Go. Go.

Gobsmacked.  Honestly.  Still crying.  OK.  Moving on.

This was one of the most beautiful, most moving, most fabulously directed productions I've seen in a long time.  It was glorious to look at, glorious to listen to, and glorious to sob at (repeatedly) in theatrical wonder.  Part of me doesn't really want to say all that much about it because experiencing it, without prior knowledge (like I did last night), is the way to go.  If I tell you about all the beautiful, sad, gorgeous things I saw and heard and felt, then you'll be looking for them.  Maybe.

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

Story-wise, Indecent deals with the tortured past of the Yiddish play The God of Vengeance, written in Poland in the early 20th century. We see all of the trials and tribulations the author, Sholem Asch, went through to get the play produced and we see all of the trials and tribulations the acting company went through to get various incarnations of the play done around the world.  In 1923, though, the Broadway production of The God of Vengeance, which featured the first kiss between two women in Broadway history, was actually shut down by the vice squad and the actors were sent to prison. The power of theater was juxtaposed with the small-mindedness and the coming horror of the world around it and the way the juxtaposition was presented was amazing.  I was in awe of the way Vogel and director Rebecca Taichman created this melange of character/story/dance/music/pathos into a wonderful whole.  I'm not exaggerating when I say I held my breath frequently, which caused quite a neckache by the end of the night, since I was in the front row.

I believe this company has done the show at least twice before, at Yale and at the La Jolla Playhouse, and their intimacy with the production and with each other is evident. There is a fluidity already inherent in the production elements, but the cast just expanded things and made the universe even more full.  The six actors play dozens of characters each and they do them all wonderfully well.  It was amazing how they used just a costume piece or a prop to become another fully-rounded character, time and time again.

In the interest of full-disclosure, not all of the audience was as enraptured as I.  The woman next to me slept through the whole thing.  The woman behind me, who, in the moments before the lights went down said "I have really low expectations," declared after the show was over "well, those low expectations were met and exceeded."  How can anyone have low expectations before a Paula Vogel play?  I don't get it, but to each his (or her) own.  I was transformed, transported, heartbroken and still get weepy when I think about my favorite parts.  So, please, do yourself a favor.  Pick up a discounted ticket and see this show before it opens and sells out immediately.  It's that amazing.