WHERE’S MY MONEY? by John Patrick Shanley (Alley Co-op). At the Pia Bouman Studio Theatre (6 Noble). To May 30. $20. 416-504-7529. See Listing. Rating: NNN
John Patrick Shanley writes dialogue that actors love.[rssbreak]
No wonder his plays and scripts (Doubt, Moonstruck) routinely rack up acting nominations. There are plenty of comic zingers and dramatic situations in Where’s My Money?, but David Ferry’s production doesn’t solve the problem of shifting tones and forced situations.
It’s basically a series of two-hander scenes about relationships and ghosts. Natalie (Anna Hardwick) is married to Henry (John Cleland), a divorce attorney, who works with colleague Sidney (Michael Kash), who’s unhappily married to Marcia Marie (Mary Francis Moore). Rounding out the play are Celeste (Ingrid Rae Doucet), a friend from Natalie’s past, and Tommy (Christian Bellsmith), Natalie’s former and now dead boyfriend.
The connections and tensions between the characters seem more contrived than heartfelt, but Ferry and his actors have fun with the scenes (and getting their mouths around those New Yawk accents). Hardwick and Doucet are superb picking away at each other’s wounds, while Kash and Moore are believable as a couple whose marriage is at a dead end.
C.J. Astronomo’s lighting could be more evocative in one key scene, but Joe Madziak’s set includes lots of surprises prepare to be unhinged by a couple of revelations. And Kevin Quain’s music sets a suitably romantic but melancholy tone.
