'Burn This' a firey good show

Burn This is not one of those unbearably artsier-than-thou productions that sometimes rear their pretentious little heads in Yale theater. It's approachable, enjoyable, and best of all, drool-on-yourself absorbing, thanks to skillful direction by Joel Maguen, SM '02, and a strong cast of talented actors.

ERIN I. LEWIS/YH The actors beg you not to take the title literally.

The play invites us to enter the kind of sparse Manhattan loft in which many of us will find ourselves making Cup of Noodles in a few years. The loft is shared by lithe blonde Anna (Elizabeth Meriwether, TC '04), a modern dancer, and her flamboyant ad industry friend Larry (Ian Lowe, DC '04). As the play opens, they are just coming to terms, aided by a steady flow of alcohol and cigarettes, with the recent death of their third roommate, a brilliant young dancer, in a tragic accident. Along with their friend Burton (Jon Wolf, SM '02), a trust-fund-wealthy, endearingly enthusiastic movie writer, the characters pull the audience along the tumultuous experience of mourning in a time and place in their lives when death should be the last thing on their minds.

With the sudden entrance of the deceased's wild Jerseyite brother Pale (Maguen) and his startling intrusion into the lives of the young Manhattanites, the play takes an unexpected turn and fully realizes itself before our very eyes.

The cast of Burn This is terrific. Not only are the actors strong individually, but they also have a genuine chemistry, especially in humorous parts. Maguen in particular presents us with an extravagantly frenzied take on his character, and the risk pays off. With his excellent stage presence and grating Jersey accent, he is utterly hilarious, yet the outrageousness of his character doesn't taint or take away from his more subtle direction of the other characters. Meriwether and Lowe are charming and convincing, and Wolf totally captures his character's preppy frustration and endearing sincerity.

Burn This has everything going for it—good direction, a solid cast, and a great story. The key to its success, however, is the ability of the ensemble to really bring the audience into their world while capturing all the subtleties of Lanford Wilson's script. They play it realistically but with the right touch of drama, all with an underlying loneliness that slowly creeps into the undercurrent. They also confidently and seamlessly navigate the rapid-fire changes in emotion the characters experience, from laughing to bawling to gettin' it on, in a way that is natural and entertaining. See this.

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