Oh for the days when “Trigger” was simply the name of Roy Rogers’ horse. In Safe Space, a new play by Alan Fox and under Jack O’Brien’s deft direction, in its final performances at Bay Street Theater, “trigger” is that plucked from the headlines buzzword for inciting a sensitivity—any psychological, cultural, relevant sore spot-- it is safe to say, that boggles the imagination. You just want to scream, “get over it,” as Jenny, an Asian American student at the fictive Alman College, in the name of a student activist group, tries to get a black instructor fired for giving an assignment that, in her trigger-speak, justifies slavery. Huh?
Yes, in Marcus’ mind, as he explains it to the college president—Jewish, a granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor—a marvelous
Mercedes Ruehl, and to Jenny (a fine Sasha Diamond)—who, wrongheaded as she is, is passionate, he (
Rodney Richardson, excellent) was doing his job, teaching students to think of all sides of a problem. Moving from one character’s crossing the line to another, the clever dialogue twists and turns, humorously unpacking some sinews of our P. C. world, begging the question, when has all of this treading softly on hot-button topics gone too far? I say here and now, ban the word trigger permanently—after you see this provocative play.
At Guild Hall, the fourth annual Dancers for Good, to benefit the Actors Fund, dazzled with dance in all media, the evening M. C.‘d by Cady Huffman, honored Jerry Mitchell and featured a tribute to Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon. Bob Fosse’s grandson noted an irony: how Fosse and Verdon had performed at the venerable East Hampton venue back in the day, to protests of lewd movements.
And on a hot weekend, you can shop till you drop unique and gorgeous finds at the annual East Hampton Antiques & Design Show at Mulford Farm. Some advice: stay hydrated, or drop you will.
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