Devil Boys After the Revolution

The past two days I've had the pleasure of seeing two plays that are total opposites.  The first, dealt with family secrets coming to the surface in Amy Herzog's After the Revolution.  The second, was the campy alien invasion piece Devil Boys From Beyond written by Buddy Thomas and Kenneth Elliot.

I had no idea what to expect when I went in to see After the Revolution at Playwrights Horizons.  The only thing I new about the play was that it had Mare Winningham.  So, I was a little surprised that it was a tense family drama about secrets exposed.

You see Emma, played by Katharine Powell, grew up believing that her grandfather was always fighting for the little man.  The types of people who are always being pushed around for not fitting the status quo.

Well, he did that but fifty years before, he was also a spy for the Soviet Union.  Her whole world is turned upside down to learn this and deals with the new knowledge of the man she's always known to be one thing, who now turns out to be someone else.

Overall, it was certainly a show to make you think.  What your hero turns out to be not quite so heroic?  How would you react?  It's easily the kind of play that could head straight down a boring path but, is kept on the interesting side thanks to an overall excellent cast.  My biggest problem was really that we didn't get to see more of the lovely ladies, Mare Winninham and Lois Smith.  The show could have used more of both of them.

On Friday, I got to see something that was the polar opposite of After the Revolution.  That, of course would be Devil Boys From Beyond.  A funny, campy play now playing at New World Stages.

Devil Boys follows newspaper reporter Mattie Van Buren (Paul Pecorino) and her photographer and former husband Gregory Graham (Robert Berliner) as they travel to Lizard Lake, Florida to investigate news of a possible alien invasion and abduction.  Along the way, Mattie is trying to keep the alcoholic Gregory away from booze while not having her story "scooped" by her bitter rival, Lucinda Marsh (Chris Dell'Armo).

This play is high camp of the first order.  In fact, it reminded me of a Charles Busch play and Pecorino's Mattie, reminded me a lot of one of Busch's trademark characters.  That's a true compliment from me, being a big Charles Busch fan.  Everything is played so over the top you can't help but laugh at the situation, no matter how ridiculous it may seem.

Overall, I'd say that both plays were definitely worth a viewing.  They're also a good way to see some diversity in theatre because they are so different from each other.  From the serious realistic nature of After the Revolution, to the over the top camp of Devil Boys.  I'd say depending on what you're feeling, they're both worth it.

After the Revolution runs through November 28th at Playwrights Horizons and Devil Boys From Beyond is at New World Stages for only 36 performances which began Nov. 3rd.

Until next time...