The Lesser Seductions of History

Written by August Schulenberg

Directed by Heather Cohn

The Cherry Pit

55 Bank Street

212-989-2020

 

Review by Doug Strassler

 

Rude Awakenings: Revisit turbulent '60s with The Lesser Seductions of History (photo: Tyler Griffin Hicks-Wright).

 

Many historical works of art feel burdened by the very importance of their story, and often come off as little more than checklist chronologies of events, treating their audience like a classroom of students. They’re plays for medicinal purposes, if you will: Watch this, they seem to cry out, it’ll be good for you.

 

Playwright August Schulenberg avoids such pitfalls in his current work, The Lesser Seductions of History now playing at the Cherry Pit. Not that his play, put on by the Flux Theatre Ensemble and sharply directed by Heather Cohn, which chronicles the political and emotional turbulence of the 1960s, isn’t indeed good for you. It’s just that Schulenberg has found a way to take national milestones and spin them into a story that isn’t merely character-specific, but truly intimate. There isn’t an empty calorie to be found here.

 

Carefully researched and diligently interwoven, Seductions follows eleven distinct characters on their various journeys of discovery, self and otherwise. Michael Davis and Raushanah Simmons are gripping as George and Martha Ward (read any connection to those names as you will), an African-American brother and sister whose lives are changed by their encounters upon arrival in New York, most notably for George with hedonistic teacher Isaac Cohen (Jake Alexander) and Martha with confused medic Bobby Tanner (Jason Paradine). Meanwhile, both Bobby and his brother, Barry, find themselves haunted by their experiences in Vietnam. (It should be noted that these two fine actors demonstrate great rapport as siblings).

 

Separately, Kelly O’Donnell delivers a masterful turn as Tegan Tyrone, a rebel who always has a cause, not to mention a place in her heart for tortured NASA scientist Anisa Hansen (Ingrid Nordstrom). Candice Holdorf helps tie the show together as a series of characters who interact with the others, all of which are done with great skill. Tiffany Clementi, Christina Shipp, and Isaiah Tanenbaum round out the cast, all of whom deliver turns that are both nuanced and brave.

 

Cohn’s vision shines through Seductions, using the Cherry Pit’s minimal resources and keeping most actors onstage throughout the performance to completely evoke an ever-changing period. From any angle of the audience, Cohn manages to create an astounding mise en scène, ably helped by Becky Kelly’s costumes, Lauren Parrish’s lighting design, and even Asa Wember’s sound design. As a result, we don’t just see what Schulenberg’s characters go through, we feel it as well.

 

So relax — this won’t hurt a bit.