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Review
All That I Will Ever Be
New York Theatre Workshop
February 25, 2007
Morgan Wycks
mwycks@nyconstage.org
All That I Will Ever Be is a kind of "well-made play" that doesn't have
anything of significant substance on its mind. The protagonist, if we can call
him that, is a rent-boy named Omar whose "exotic" racial background allows him
to be whatever is required in the moment - Middle Eastern, Indian, South
American, etc. For each situation he has a ready-made blue-print of lies to
convince whomever he needs to. That he lives in L.A. actually makes him
run-of-the-mill since most of the population there are never who they say they
are anyway. What gets him into trouble, first with a girlfriend and then with a
boyfriend, is in his attempt to expose the lies that others are living thus
bringing his own lies crashing down around him. To say he is conflicted is
understatement and his need to fit into a society that wants merely to use him
as they need him, kind of like a tissue, makes him truly pitiable.
Director Jo Bonney takes playwright Alan Ball's scenes and lets them unfold
pretty much at face value since otherwise the lies being told would really get
confusing. The problem arises however in discerning why Omar's anger arises when
it does. What's behind the lies and the antagonism never really surfaces. It's
difficult to empathize with someone whose problems are of his own making. Even
at the end when we're told the "true" story, one suspects they're being lied to
again.
At the performance I attended, the role of Omar was taken on by the understudy,
Ramiz Monsef, who, except for the fact that he was a bit out of shape for a male
prostitute, brought immense amounts of charm and pathos to this otherwise rather
unlikable character. Austin Lysy as his spoiled, self-centered boyfriend - a
character that is becoming as commonplace as the Valley Girl of 15 years ago -
was refreshingly unlikable as well. The others in the play turn in capable
performances, the best of whom is David Margulies as an aged client who is not
all he's cracked up to be.
Though Mr. Ball convincingly conveys a part of society that is self-deceptive as
well as deceptive and the consequences thereto, part of me left the theatre
thinking you get what you pay for.
...end
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