If you want to experience a good play written by a potentially great playwright rush to Cohoes Music Hall before “The Comeuppance” closes on Sunday. Produced by Creative License the play is filled with memorable scenes, fascinating characters and timeless themes. It’s not perfect, but when it is good, it is very, very, good. Despite its minor flaws Branden Jacobs-Jennings’ overwritten play, first produced in 2023, is still better than most work being created today.
Not yet a household name, the 40-year old Jacobs-Jenkins has already won two Tony Awards and has twice been runner up for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He will win more Tony’s and, too, he will eventually be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
“The Comeuppance” indicates how perceptive writing can elevate a familiar situation. On the surface the play uses a tired trope - the high school reunion- to show the human failures of individuals and the angst of an entire generation. Most people approaching the age of 40 accept the label “middle age.” They reflect on life, accomplishment and mortality. They wonder how events like the Columbine High School massacre and decades of constant war made them who they are – jaded, isolated, privileged and emotionally empty.
However, what makes “The Comeuppance” satisfying is that the playwright creates characters who discover their emotional malaise is caused not by deeds but by inaction. Every person in the play would be a happier adult if as a teenager they would have been more honest with themselves about their needs and desires. In “The Comeuppance” there are no sudden discoveries of self. Instead, the characters simply admit to themselves what they knew all along.
Any play that says we are individually responsible for the state of our lives is, for me, worth seeing, That it says so with eloquence is a bonus.
While the bulk of the play is compelling, insightful and often written with beauty, there is problem theatrically. This is a play without bad guys who usually drive the drama and force facing the truth. As a substitute for self-revelation the playwright dips into the territory of “magical realism”. The spirit of death hovers the pre-reunion party and at various moments enters an individual to speak for the character and explain his or her truth. It’s a lazy device that stops the flow of the play.
The Creative License production is erratic. There are three superior performances. Michael Lake is excellent as Emilio, an artist who has lived abroad for the past 15 years. He is meant to be the play’s protagonist, but Lake’s wise portrayal shows him the man who sees his country clearly. Even though he would be an annoying guest at any party, Lake makes Emilio the conscience of the play.
As Caitlin, Nicole Mecca creates a complex person. She can speak up for others, but not for herself. Her hidden low self-worth encourages her to make bad choice after bad choice. Mecca gains our sympathy if not our understanding for the woman loved by all.
Daniel Michael Perez gives a sturdy performance as Paco, the victim of PTSD. Though once one of Caitlin’s “bad choices,” Paco was not a member of the groups private clique “The Multi-Ethnic-Reject-Group” and as the outsider he assumes the traits of an antagonist. A relative newcomer to the area, Perez gives another superlative performance as a man who earns more sympathy than he deserves.
Other characters are Kristina, a doctor, mother of five and an alcoholic. Ursula is the host of the pre-reunion gathering. A reclusive woman she has lost an eye to rampant diabetes. Both Shaya Reyes as Kristina and Dalina Quinones as Ursula serve their characters but poor diction and lack of volume inhibit their characterizations.
It’s played on an attractive set designed by Molly Waters . But Maya Kranz’s lighting is overly dark and is especially disappointing with the effect that signals when Death has control of a body.
In a production filled with revelations one of the happiest is the work of first time direction of David Quinones, Jr. He takes a complex tale and tells it directly. In a work that takes over two hours without an intermission, he sets a pace that overcomes the plays unnecessary length. And clearly, he gets the best from his actors.
“The Comeuppance” plays Cohoes Music Hall through Sunday. For tickets and schedule information go to CohoesMusicHall.org
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
