Saturday, March 15, 2014

"Nothing But Trash" at Theatre for the New City

When I went out tonight to see “Nothing But Trash” the new play by Andy Halliday at the Lower East Side’s Theatre for the New City (155 First Avenue), I was not planning on writing a review. I didn’t bring my camera, I didn’t bring a notepad; in truth my wife and I almost didn’t’ make it to the space on time so we didn’t even buy our tickets ahead of schedule. We were heading out to support an old friend of ours, one of the stars of the show, Tim McGarrigal.  However this lurid tale of forbidden love was a great time and something that everyone who’s able should make it up to see.

McGarrigal stars as Tab, a wide-eyed young man who is just coming into his own and beginning to put his feelers out towards life and the world. Rory Max Kaplan is cast opposite Tab as Troy, the wrong-side-of-the-tracks summer companion who winds up being much more.

While the premise of summer love has been done a thousand times before, Halliday reaches for a different type of tapestry. The details may be convoluted and Oedipal but the message is simple: love hurts. Love comes in many shapes and from different directions.  Love can blindside you and usually takes your breath away. Love can be simple and love can be kind; love can be rigorous and love can be consuming. Even when it’s hazy and does all these things love can also reveal an elevated and enlightened sense of truth. And love changes you; for better and for worse.

Put into a deeper sense of time and place; “Nothing But Trash” is set in idyllic 1958. This was an era of homegrown innocence and because it’s past is in our mind’s eye, everything is pretty well set in stone. Things were pure, intentions were earnest, and right and wrong were clearly defined. Halliday’s deliciously lurid cast of characters all have burdens to bear. It's revealed during the fast paced 100 minutes of this show, that even the most upstanding citizens of 1958 had skeletons in their closet. Even those who appear devoid of a dark side or 'just want to explore Paris' still have their crosses to bear.  Even with all the high-pitched melodrama at the end of the play, it’s true love which swoops in, wins out., and ultimately saves the characters day.

G.R. Johnson directs this very able cast. McGarrigal and Kaplan are joined onstage by Tim Burke, Andrew Glaszek. John Kevin Jones, David Errigo Jr., Jeffrey Vause, Steven Wenslawski and the playwright Halliday.

Nothing But Trash” continues running at Theatre for the New City through March 23, 2014. Tickets are available through Smart Tix.