Andy Lipman (Noah Robbins) and Marty Kerner (John Glover) have a complicated relationship in SECRETS OF THE TRADE (photo by James Leynse)
Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters
59 East 59th St. between Park & Madison Aves.
August 10 – September 4, $60
“Artist/Audience Talkback” follows August 12 & 19 performances
www.primarystages.org/secretsofthetrade
Primary Stages begins its second quarter-century with Jonathan Tolins’s refreshing, vastly entertaining SECRETS OF THE TRADE. Inspired by actual events from Tolins’s (TWILIGHT OF THE GOLDS) own life in the theater, the play begins with sixteen-year-old Andy Lipman (Noah Robbins) writing a letter to Tony-winning director Martin Kerner (John Glover), asking for advice and an internship. Two years later, Kerner finally responds, becoming a mentor to the ambitious Andy, who is now at Harvard. As Kerner prepares to mount a new musical based on the film NETWORK and Andy explores his sexuality and creativity, the relationship between the young student and the older teacher goes through a fascinating, emotional series of ups and downs that can turn with a sudden crash via razor-sharp dialogue. Glover, with a gorgeous mane of 1980s big hair and a finely grizzled beard that instantly announces his tortured experience, is a magnetic presence as the complex Kerner, who ranges from being loving and tender to acerbic and witty to mean-spirited and ruthless, often at the same time. Robbins is appropriately nerdy as Andy, who dreams of a life in the theater but discovers it is a lot more complicated than he imagined. Bill Brochtrup is solid as Kerner’s beautifully blond right-hand man, a fiercely protective assistant who hides a secret or two of his own. And Amy Aquino and Mark Nelson are a riot as Andy’s parents, who love him deeply but also worry about his growing ties to Kerner; they also play a series of minor characters, the best of which is Nelson’s comic bit as a Café des Artistes waiter who tings a glass every time Kerner name-drops while dishing to Andy. Director Matt Shakman’s staging is simply marvelous, making the most out of the small venue as he cleverly blocks letter readings and phone calls, has certain characters address the audience directly, and uses funny backdrops to set up new scenes. The play has been gestating with Tolins since he began writing it back in 1996, setting it in the 1980s, so it does occasionally seem dated, with the underlying arrival of Reaganism and AIDS unnecessary subplots in what really is a timeless story. You don’t have to love the theater to love SECRETS OF THE TRADE, a triumphant tale of love and hope that won the 2009 GLAAD Award for Best New Play.