When you walk into the Hayes Theater on W 44th Street, and you look at the artwork depicting a lovely country cottage on the stage, you suddenly realize that there is a lot more going on in this painting than one would expect. To some, the artwork might be considered almost shocking, and people in the audience found themselves standing up and truly taking a good long look at the painting and finding a lot of the actions depicted to be quite unexpected. This hinted that we were possibly about to see a play that was going to have a lot of zaniness and believe me, it lived up to the hype! “The Cottage” by Sandy Rustin, will have you stunned and laughing.
Multiple romantic relationships with people other than one’s spouse abound. I don’t want to be specific because part of the joy, humor, and delight in this play is witnessing the relationship with wide-open eyes. Let’s just say infidelity, indiscretion, non-commitment, and whipping one’s partner into shape are wildly amusing elements of this work.
The cast is absolutely intoxicating to watch. Laura Bell Bundy is hilarious as Sylvia. Eric McCormack is truly a player as Beau. Alex Moffat is marvelous and adorable as Clarke. Dana Steingold is funny and naïve as Dierdre. Nehal Joshi is unpredictable and misjudged as Richard. Lilli Cooper has incredible comedic timing as Marjorie. Her character is very logical, but also very controlling in an abusive yet funny way. Tony Roach serves his seductive purpose as Oscar.
Now, if you are going to have a comedic play on Broadway, what better person to direct it than Jason Alexander? There is a level of humor that captures the attention and maintains it throughout the entire play, and while the humor is not side-splitting, but it’s definitely entertaining.The set by Paul Tate dePoo III is exquisitely detailed and gives the production a rich, privileged feel. For more info, visit www.thecottageonbroadway.com/