| It's very well written, including the interpolated songs, but David Cale seems not to be the best interpreter of this story which is strange, perhaps, since it's his own. It's not the material that's weak. What's on the page is beautifully rendered--by turns charming, droll, harrowing and ecstatic--but Cale's performance is over emphatic and it's distracting. Another performer would likely bring more nuance to this remarkable story as Billy Crudup did recently with Cale's similarly surprising HARRY CLARKE. Cale, though, is just trying too hard. This was an early preview so maybe he'll settle in. Still, WE'RE ONLY ALIVE...is another paean to resilience in the face of developmental and social trauma, and we can't have too many of those these days. On another note, I recently caught up with UNDERGROUND RAILROAD GAME which, while effective, felt at times too smug and self congratulatory. Or maybe it was just the audience. Like many plays about African American experience these days, it was confrontational. So confrontational that the audience seemed uncomfortable and perhaps wanted to defensively signal how woke they were. In any case, this is an extraordinary, defining moment for plays about the legacy of racism in America and its continued elaborations, and UNDERGROUND RAILROAD GAME is a most worthy addition to what's fast becoming a contemporary canon. |
