VanLoan

vanloan@nyconstage.org


Cagelove brings together the creative team behind Red Light Winter (short listed for the Pulitzer Prize) once again. Winter's intense star (and recent Lortel performance winner) Christopher Denham is the author of Cagelove and Adam Rapp is the director (he is Winter's writer/director). Trying not to make overt comparisons thus becomes very difficult. While covering the same intense psychosexual territory as Winter, Cagelove is at best the modest little step-brother.

The main thrust of the play concerns the relationship between Sam (Daniel Eric Gold) and Katie (Gillian Jacobs). As they plan an upcoming wedding, Katie visits an ex-lover and is raped. Or would have Sam believe that this is what happened. Sam becomes obsessed with discovering who his fiancée's ex-lover is and how much power he still has over her. He begins to stalk Katie as she visits him and breaks into his apartment (envisioning their possible trysts). Katie is a professional photographer so revealing pictures become involved (albeit hidden). Katie sister, Ellen (Emily Cass McDonnell) is a passive-aggressive observer to the proceedings who seems to have her own designs on Sam.

Cagelove is littered with red herrings (ostensibly taking a cue from Mr. Rapp's playbook). The biggest one being that the plot's catalyst, Katie's ex-lover, remains off stage. Because we must envision him through Katie's references, he becomes more of a cipher then the author intends him to be (it does not help matters that Miss Jacobs' performance tends towards shrillness). Since Sam cannot directly confront this mysterious stranger who is reeking havoc on the relationship (or is he?), his protestations become just so much shadow boxing (often leaving Mr. Gold to become futilely hysterical). Ellen is so murkily written (although Miss McDonnell does well in her creepy portrayal) that we never get a handle on her motives (i.e. why much of the action is actually fueled by her insinuations). Mr. Rapp's competent direction and the lighting design by Ed McCarthy do much to keep us distracted but ultimately we become frustrated and annoyed. Mr. Denham certainly has talent; he just needs to become a little less cagey with it.

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