Nathan Lane in Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus: Clowning with Corpses at the Booth Theater

Can you imagine a premise more ridiculous than a play featuring maids tidying up at a dump? Nathan Lane and Kristine Nielsen perform a comedic pas de deux, squeezing the gas out of dead Roman corpses in a giant heap in Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus at the Booth Theater. Cadavers require care: servicing them, Gary and Janice, (Lane and Nielsen) suck body fluid, and tend to erect penises, lucky to have jobs. What a dump!

Echoing ancient politics: Gary proclaims, the mind has a lot to clean and organizes a coup, plotting to save the entire world and put an end to tragedy. Nielsen as Janice provides the appropriate skepticism, doing her signature grimaces and ambling among the bodies as choreographed by Bill Irwin and directed by George C. Wolfe. An optimist joins the couple: Carol (the adorable Julie White) in a lovely pink dress (Ann Roth’s costumes are superb), surely the color of high hopes as opposed to Gary and Janice’s hobo wear.

Rife for farce, “Gary”’s sight gags and despair pack the punch of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, which surely must have been writer Taylor Mac’s inspiration. Kudos to Santo Loquasto’s scene design and Campbell Young Associates’ hair and wigs, high and mighty as befits a royal court, all the better for one of the funniest shows on Broadway.

Regina Weinreich

Graphic Design: Salpeter Ventura