It’s always exciting and admirable to see familiar television stars return to their roots of live theater. Television audiences recognize Cynthia Nixon as lawyer Miranda Hobbes on the long-running, hit series Sex and the City, but Nixon has been treading the boards since 1980 when she made her debut in a revival of The Philadelphia Story at the tender age of 14.
Now, she’s starring in The Seven Year Disappear, a new Off-Broadway play written by Jordan Seavey and presented by the New Group. With all due respect for the fabulous Ms. Nixon, I have one question: “Did you read the script before signing on to this mess?” 20 minutes in, I wondered what was happening. At 45, I was still confounded and when the curtain call happened after 90 excruciating minutes, I walked out, scratching my head trying to figure it all out.
Nixon stars as Miriam, a performance artist whose works are similar to Marina Abramovic, a fellow artist who sparks jealously within Miriam. Over a period of time, which includes the 2016 election, Miriam is nowhere to be found by anyone, including her gay son Naphtali (Taylor Trensch), who is also her manager. Naphatali has more issues than Time magazine, including a struggle with drugs and alcohol, failed attempts at relationships, and an unhealthy obsession with his mother.
Nixon portrays several characters, including Naphtali’s ex-lover and one of her own former flames. She makes each one distinct and unique. To that end, it’s worth watching a master actor at work. A brave choice can also be acknowledged in John Narun’s projections which feature extreme close-ups of Miriam and Naphtali. Both Nixon and Trensch put their vanity aside for the sake of modern art, larger than life photos.
Yet director Scott Elliot has adopted the same annoying technique as stage directors Daniel Fish and Ivo Van Hove, which is to blend video cameras with live theater. It has been-and remains- a truly distracting gimmick that makes the eye wonder where to look and does nothing for the stories.
Perhaps the entire play is a piece of performance art, but with such unlikeable characters and a disjointed narrative we simply walk away asking, “Who cares?”
The Seven Year Disappear runs through March 31st Off Broadway at the Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th. For tickets and information, click here