Sir Ralph (Josh Hamilton) and Sir Alfred (Tate Donovan) discuss the socioeconomic conditions of fourteenth-century Europe in Kenneth Lonergan’s MEDIEVAL PLAY
The Pershing Square Signature Center
The Irene Diamond Stage
480 West 42nd St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Through June 24, $25
212-244-7529
www.signaturetheatre.org
The Signature Theatre has had a thrilling inaugural season at its new Frank Gehry-designed Pershing Square Center on West 42nd St., with five strong productions in three spaces. But alas, at the end of its second cycle, it now has its first dud. Kenneth Lonergan’s Medieval Play is a silly little piffle about knights raping and pillaging across Europe as one poor soul suddenly gains a conscience. Set during the Hundred Years’ War and the Papal Schism of 1378, the play opens with Sir Alfred (Tate Donovan) and Sir Ralph (Josh Hamilton) having an anachronistic discussion about the political and economic conditions of contemporary society as they prepare to lay further siege to the countryside. But Ralph soon starts having second thoughts about the intrinsic value of brutally molesting nuns, much to the consternation of Alfred and fellow knights Sir Simon (Kevin Geer) and Sir Lionel (C. J. Wilson). With both Italy and France claiming the new pope, Urban VI (Anthony Arkin) and Clement VII (John Pankow), the battle is on, but the play lacks any kind of center as it meanders from scene to scene, throwing in a funny joke here and there but mostly coming off flat and repetitive, an uninspiring mix of 1066 and All That, Month Python and the Holy Grail, The Borgias, Game of Thrones, and your niece’s high school talent show. The cast, which also includes Heather Burns as Catherine of Siena and Halley Feiffer in a number of roles, sometimes addresses the audience directly and fools around with the purposely low-rent costumes and set design, self-referential conceits that only add to the flawed nature of the production. This time around, Lonergan, who has written and directed such films as You Can Count on Me and Margaret and written such highly praised shows as This Is Our Youth, The Waverley Gallery, and Lobby Hero, has come up with a play that is as generic as its title.