“Hi, my name’s Kathleen.” I held my breath as Jesse Eisenberg (!) shook my outstretched hand.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Jesse.”
…
Asdfghjkl;!!! Ch’yeah your name is Jesse, Jesse Eisenberg! Has anyone else been slipping him in casual conversations?!
So yeah, onto the actual play: I liked it, a lot. Though I thought Edgar had traits that were sort of a similar to characters Jesse’s played before, he still did a great job. Justin Bartha surprised me, though. In National Treasure and The Hangover, Bartha’s characters were sort of the underdogs, the ones left in the corner while the real action got done. But with his portrayal of Vinny, Bartha was controlling and annoying and self-indulgent. I was impressed. I sadly did not get to chance to tell Bartha this because after our picture together I quickly ran back to Jesse. Oh well, Justin said he was going somewhere anyway.
The set was pretty good. I really appreciated the color of the horribly painted walls and the beanbag chair in the middle of the living room. Or as they should call it, the multipurpose room, as it also served as the dining room and Edgar’s sleep and writing area.
I thought the relationships between the characters were so interesting (hey did Asuncíon and Vinny have sex or what?!). The most intriguing was obviously the one between Jesse and Edgar. As amusing as Edgar was, I pitied him a lot; he was needy for Vinny’s attention in a way that was super unhealthy. Vinny knew this and used any opportunity to take advantage of Edgar, whether emotionally or (almost) sexually.
I was disappointed a little at the ending too. I was hoping for a positive development of Edgar’s character. I honestly felt that catching a sickness in a third world country would have been “character building” and while Vinny appeared to accept him and need him at the end, I still felt that the two would soon fall back into their usual patterns. But I was hoping for too much I suppose, it was a comedy.
Now onto the altogether effectiveness of the play… I have to admit, when the lights went off and we left the theater I thought: “wow that play was great! … But hmm.” The playwright (Jesse Eisenberg!) was attempting to slip me something that I was just not agreeing with. Maybe I missed it somewhere between Asuncíon’s debut as a top-notch dancer and the near fellatio.
So I turned to google.
What I learned was what I got a gist of after I saw the production. Basically, there are different ways of knowing, or different kinds of knowledge. There is the kind of knowledge gained through experience, and there’s the “knowledge” gained through assumption. And the play is supposed to explore two people as what they “know” about the world is challenged by their new houseguest Asuncíon. Now, I see where Jesse (!) was going, Asuncíon definitely went against what they thought they knew about Filipina immigrants (i.e. they realized she wasn’t a sex slave) but I’m not sure if the single situation changed how they judge others, each other, and themselves. The characters basically ended up right back where they started, as Vinny still self-indulgent, and Edgar just as proud. But again, it was a comedy. And the comedy was effective, and so was the set and acting.
So yeah, thanks Jessie(!).
