Savage In Limbo
John Patrick Shanley is a playwright of note having received an Oscar for the film Moonstruck and a Tony and Pulitzer Prize for the stage play Doubt. But I “doubt” the significance of his play, Savage In Limbo, playing at Two Roads Theatre in Studio City.
First of all, it was listed as a comedy, and personally, I could find no humor in it whatsoever. Furthermore, the characters in this play are so shallow and obnoxious that it is difficult to have any interest in them or their outcome at all.
Savage takes place in a seedy bar in the Bronx. The characters are regulars, 32 years of age and each with a problem of his or her own, including the bartender Murk (Steve Kehaela), April White (Pamela Donnelly), a failure who is, undoubtedly, a bit whacky, (Which of these characters isn’t?!) Linda Rotunda (Laura Bottrell), a loose woman who has had too many illegitimate children, Denise Savage (Jolene Kim) who bemoans the fact that she is probably the oldest virgin in the Bronx and Tony Aronica (Jamil Chokachi), Linda’s latest stud, who is now being bargained for between her and Savage. Between all of the profanity, the “crying” and yelling, does anyone really care about who wins out or what happens to any of them? I, for one, could not.
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