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.
Posts
