As a pre-medical student, a play catalyzed by a medical dilemma was undoubtedly my first choice this week. What made the evening even more memorable was the expert execution of 80 wholesome minutes of heightened drama. Courtney Baron opened ‘A Very Common Procedure’ this week to treat audiences to a platter of deliciously serve-able actors. While the overzealous use of direct address dictates the play’s actions, it is the marathon delivery of human emotions sweeping the stage that saves it from complete ruin.
The play narrates the chopped-up life sequences of a young couple, Carolyn Goldenhersch (played by Lynn Collins) and husband Michael (Stephen Kunken). The couple is distraught over the death of their premature baby and the failure of their doctor, Anil Patel (Amir Arison), to save it. It was obvious from the beginning that Baron sought people’s sympathy. After all, who won’t feel sorry for such tragic figures?
Unfortunately, the expected drama at this point is a little misplaced and cold. There is too much narrative history and too much explanation. Essentially, Baron has done all the thinking for you so you might as well forget having intellectual discussions about some unexplained metaphor when the play ends.
Words onstage are a powerful resource. In fact, I wholeheartedly support the path that Baron has chosen. For example, when ‘Procedure’ begins, Carolyn shocks you with ‘I masturbate to the thought of having sex with the doctor who killed my baby.’ Of course, I would rather hear this than watch this, not just because it’s less disturbing, but also because hearing it out loud makes it more of a confession than an act.
The only sore point is that the play even recounts emotional reactions that would have reverberated more had they been evoked than talked about. Furthermore, one of the most moving exchanges and rare instance of wry humor is when the couple is trying to name the baby, which is, of course, a very common procedure. At a loss, they name it Baby Goldenhersch and Michael sighs, ‘Like she was going to go straight from life into a 1940s slapstick comedy.’ We don’t actually see this conversation enacted. Instead, we hear a conversation about this conversation much to our exasperation.
Transitions are always harder on stage than say, in movies. Devoid of the special effects, director Michael Greif impresses us by dynamically moving his characters on and offstage. This really lends to the juxtaposition of Michael and Carolyn’s married life before the delivery, and Carolyn’s flirtatious encounters with Anil after the delivery.
‘Procedure’ could have been a contemporary miracle had Baron built on Carolyn’s perverted attraction to Anil. The psychological implications of a Freudian mess would have greatly complemented Collins’ core acting abilities. Arison, who was given some of the most intriguingly tasteful words (‘I keep thinking that … you’re going to pull out a knife or something and kill me.’) is a little unconvincing in justifying his character’s impulses. Kunken’s multidimensional character is not used as it potentially could have been, possibly because of the predominance of the two other characters.
In the end, since ‘Procedure’ was presented on such a literal level because of Baron’s choice of direct narration, it failed to illuminate the bigger picture. Why do we give into such irrational impulses? Why can’t our actions be explained? Are all humans capable of this? At the end of the play, I couldn’t find answers to these questions because there were no real symbols to interpret and no metaphorical actions to analyze.
‘A Very Common Procedure’ is playing through March 10 at the Lucille Lortel Theater.
