Review
Butley
Booth Theater
October 12, 2006

VanLoan

vanloan@nyconstage.org

Getting its first major revival since its American premiere in 1972,
Simon Gray's Butley is a character study etched in bile. Ben Butley is an
alcoholic, self-loathing, self-pitying English professor (specializing in
the poetry of T. S. Eliot) whose world comes crashing down in the course of
one day. His loveless marriage has been a shambles for some time and his
wife Anne (an affecting Pamela Gray) has arrived at his office to ask for a
divorce. Butley's male lover, Joey Keyston, a former student who is now
working towards his own professorship has finally summoned the courage to
leave him after their relationship of several years has soured. It is
interesting to note that both Anne and Joey (the excellent Julian Ovenden)
have chosen solid, unexciting new partners to counter balance the emotional
gyrations of dealing with Butley.

Butley, grasping that his mundane academic life has reached a dead end
(grading pretentious term papers, trying to finish a book on Eliot, a
passive-aggressive hostility to his fellow colleagues and students) has
retreated into his own personal "Wasteland" of cigarettes, liquor and
sarcastic self-preservation. He entertains himself by sadistically bullying
his students (a befuddled Jessica Stone), follow professors (an extended
scene with the priceless Dana Ivey is a treasure) and even Joey's new
boyfriend (a forceful Daniel Pettie) to the point of a slow
self-destruction. His only defense against his knowledge of personal
inadequacy and failure is his pitch-black humor.

 
This basically sums up the action of the play; it's a very cerebral
evening. And because of the dramatic set-up of the piece, it runs the risk
of being a little dull (the one room basement office designed by Alexander
Dodge that Butley and Joey share rings depressingly true). The brunt of the
play's attraction falls on the weight of the shoulders of the actor playing
Butley. Alan Bates' Broadway debut in the original proved to be a
tour-de-force and won him a Tony Award. The part soon took on an aura of
being unplayable after that. Nathan Lane has bravely stepped up to the plate
in this revival and under Nicholas Martin's skillful direction has acquitted
himself admirably. It's a part and a half and definitely suited to Mr.
Lane's outsized talents. His English accent is serviceable and he has kept
his comic mannerisms in check for the most part (since Butley survives, if
not thrives on his vicious humor, it becomes unavoidable that Mr. Lane
occasionally slides into his familiar stock tricks). He has a tendency to
play up Butley's manic-depressiveness more than his humor and also pulls no
punches with his decent into alcoholism. It is gratifying to see Mr. Lane
push himself towards something heavier than musical comedy and if the part
doesn't always fit like a glove, he certainly has nothing to be ashamed of.

...end