David Barth’s “Hard Right” Reviewed in Variety

David Barth’s off-Broadway production of “Hard Right” is reviewed by Mark Blankenship in Tomorrow’s Daily Variety.

Here's proof that "Hard Right," a vicious political drama from David Barth, scrapes some kind of nerve: At the performance reviewed, patrons started yelling at each other across the aisles during the play. "How can you laugh at this? It's not funny!" said one man, reacting to the crowd's titters as a mysterious government agent terrorized a suburban family. But the laughs kept coming, especially when the agent offered absurd rationales for his behavior. "How can you laugh?" the man repeated, until someone retorted, "Don't tell me what to think!"

Blankenship compares the production to certain Pinter plays "in which terror springs from chatty rogues with unclear motives," he writes. "But though it traffics mainly in dread, the production's tone is expertly controlled."

"Hard Right" continues through the month at the Player's Theater.

Comments

[Steve Barth]

Some Reviews:

VARIETY
"the laughs kept coming... engrossing.... viewers could be shuddering at the power or laughing at its outsized intensity... Barth's voice has it's own distinctive power... It's riveting stuff"

THE NEW YORK TIMES
"paranoid nightmare.. So what about Bob? Does he symbolize anxiety about surveillance, an overreaching government or the invasion of privacy? Perhaps..."

BACKSTAGE
"disturbing... Dylan Price as Bob [is] deeply connected to the role, with an odd calm and a terrifying explosiveness, Price literally made me jump... rhetoric, wordplay and psychological nuance... give HARD RIGHT a sense of mystery and intrigue."

SHOW BUSINESS (CRITIC'S PICK)
"a jarring and unpredictable ride driven by a group of compelling actors... a typical "Meet the Parents" setup turns sinister with the arrival of Bob (played with remarkable versatility by Dylan Price), who claims to be a guidance consultant hired by Henry's school but turns out to be something, or more accurately, many things, else entirely... you start to feel as if you're watching a highlights reel from The Twilight Zone.

OFF OFF ONLINE
"the observant theatergoer will be intrigued by this twisted, cautionary tale... intense... playwright David Barth does an excellent job... terror that gets a new name..."

THEATER TALK
"...You can't take your eyes away... A log-flume ride... An entertaining, satirical, nightmarish 'what if' on just how close our government may be to totalitarianism... I can't stop watching."

Tickets: TheaterMania.com
www.HardRightPlay.com