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Review
Zero Hour
St. Clement's Theatre
January 9, 2010
Morgan Wycks
mwycks@nyconstage.org
The larger than life Zero Mostel had an overwhelming personality and a seemingly endless amount of energy. It was impossible for him to contain himself even when painting, his first love above theatre. In the bio-play, Zero Hour, Jim Brochu captures the man's zest for living and his painful anger at things unjust and baffling as well as conveying Mostel's signature quirks. Often Brochu looks like an Al Hirschfeld caricature of Mostel come to life. Directed with finesse by the actress Piper Laurie, the problem with the piece as written by Mr. Brochu is that you know exactly where it's going almost every step of the way. The trap of bio-plays is unfortunately not avoided here. We get the high and low points in chronological order, some of them so familiar as to have us beg for more details that might illuminate the reasons behind the personality other than a mere re-telling. The one truly evocative scene that defines Mostel's contradictions occurs when two FBI men arrive at his apartment and his undeniable fear is covered with a uniquely calm chutzpah. Had there been more scenes like this one, Mr. Brochu could let us discover the man instead of having the character flat out tell us he's a man of contradictions and then listing them. Thankfully, Mr. Brochu delivers the jokes and punch lines with a precision that gets us to laugh at even the oldest ones.
The only thing that is clearly conveyed is Mr. Mostel's test for meeting strangers. Loud, arguably rude and insulting, he wanted quickly to find out if the person would run or stand his or her ground. The unseen reporter/interviewer that sets up the structure of the play passes this test (or there would be no play). But the unanswered question that escapes Mr. Brochu is why this need? I could fill in the blank but I want the playwright's take.
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