Review
Disconnect
East 13th Street Theater
June 16, 2005
VanLoan
vanloan@nyconstage.org

Several years ago Rob Ackerman wrote a play Tabletop about the advertising industry directed by Connie Grappo. They have re-teamed for Mr. Ackerman's sophomore effort Disconnect. Unfortunately, the new play is just that: sophomoric. This time the play is set in the world of telecommunications (the producer is again the Working Theater who are dedicated to work by/about the working classes) with particular emphasis on cell phone technology. Set during a dinner party, two upper class West side couples slowly begin to move past social conventions towards a low-rent version of "get the guests" from Virginia Woolf. While some of the dialogue has bite, mostly it settles for sit-com resolutions and glib rationalizations (can we ever stop blaming our parents for our situations?) Disconnect is further hampered by a flash-back situation which keeps intruding upon the present action. It is an attempt to give moral gravitas to the evening's major theme of the degradation of the soul through modern technology. Both Ms. Grappo and the actors try to infuse the situations with a sense of urgency but are ultimately downsized. 

...end