Review
Cul-de-sac
Connelly Theater
May 10, 2006
VanLoan
vanloan@nyconstage.org
John Cariani's black comedy Cul-de-sac takes place in a suburban development focusing on three couples who live on the same street. The title implies that it is a dead end street which the author uses as a fertile metaphor. The couples' surnames are Jones, Smith and Johnson representing America at its most banal. That the Smiths and Johnsons feel they need to keep up with the Jones' (more cars, better lawn care, etc.) provides the catalyst for the storyline. But the real barometer for upward mobility between the couples proves to be children.
Mr. Cariani takes a hard look at the current obsession with children in this country; a trend which borders on fetish. Each couple takes a different approach towards children (which cannot be revealed here) and the effect it has on their lives is telling. Mr. Cariani's repetitive dialogue gradually reveals how each couple is quietly devastated by the consequences of child rearing.
Despite the dark underside of bucolic suburban family life being exposed; Cul-de-sac has the feel of an extended sketch. Director Jack Cummings III has the actors deliver the dialogue at a machine gun pace; bringing out the desperate comedy of their situations. Yet the approach has an alienating effect not allowing us to empathized with them. Thus, the sinister surprises that unite the couples do not have the intended punch they should. Of the three sets of couples, Nicole Alifante and John Cariani who play the Jones' come off the best owing to the fact they seems most comfortable with the rapid delivery style.
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