Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Mistakes Were Made

I wish I had written this entry early in this show's run, instead of at the end of it, as I am now. In "Mistakes Were Made," playing through Sunday, Feb. 27 at the Barrow Street Theatre, Michael Shannon rips into the character of a beleaguered theater producer with gusto -- channeling Lewis Black and Archie Bunker with a just a hint of Woody Allen in the wordiness of his rants.

But to all of this, Shannon adds muscular comedy at times, which makes the play worth mentioning on a comedy website. In what is essentially a one-man show, Shannon heaves his whole bulk around the stage, throwing his whole weight into his voice as he yells at people on the phone.

And it's moments such as when he compares a recalcitrant playwright's agent to a "retarded farmgirl" right before you know he will blow another gasket, that have the audience ready to roar in laughter, as I was.