My Review: Adam Driver in Off-Broadway's 'Hold On To Me Darling'
The show: “Hold On to Me Darling” by Kenneth Lonergan at Off-Broadway’s Lucille Lortel Theatre.
What makes it special?: It stars Adam Driver, one of the hottest screen, stage and television actors around —and ticket prices for the show reflect that. Following, “Oh, Mary” (with its comma in the correct title place, thank you), the Lortel is on a roll.
The play rings a bell: Yep. It had a previous Off-Broadway run at The Atlantic Theatre in 2016 starring Timothy Olyphant, another charismatic actor.
What did you think of it then? : I wrote then in my Variety review that I found the play “funny, beguiling and overwritten.” Olyphant showed ”the right notes of guilelessness, obliviousness and narcissism to make [the lead character of] Strings [McCrane] one of the most appealing messes in a long time.”
What do you think of out now?: Much the same thing, really, with just the interpretation of the lead actor now being the most significant change. The harder Driver though is not enough to make me change my mind about the play itself. It’s still a long reach for its political and cultural notes it tosses about as Strings — and those around him — equating his celebrity life and personal angst to a larger moral drift of the country.
What’s it about?: Dealing with the death of his beloved but difficult momma, the country-western music crossover star is having a personal crisis of identity and values as he seeks to escape the trappings of show biz for something more real. This superstar —is going to make some changes, though he doesn’t know quite what they will be. He wants to get “real” but reality isn’t one of the singer’s strong points. Self-absorption is. Driver gives the character a dark impulsive charm that you’re not sure if it’s a mask or a method. It’s so laid back you’re not sure if the character is insightful or deluded. (As the play goes on, it becomes clear it’s more the latter.)
Ah, the ol’ show biz is a shallow biz template: : Yep. When the play sticks to the romantic-comedy tone it works well for a while with its amusing characters, comic takes and loopy situations.
And then?: It goes on and on, veering from sit-com silly to painfully serious and then back and forth, with Driver going deep, deep, deep into a character who, well, isn’t that deep. (His mommy and daddy issues — not to mention his narcissism — are clear to us from the get-go.)
Driver’s introspective efforts may be his and the director (Neil Pepe, again) trying to give the play some gravitas but it only makes for an unnecessarily long play (running two and three-quarter hours) feel even longer. Layering a patina of the profound only dulls the play’s original sharpness and fun (especially its offbeat bromides, flashes of dark humor and delicious turns of phrases, as I noted earlier).
A late scene reuniting Strings with his long-absent father Mitch (touchingly played by Frank Wood) brings Strings back to reality, even though its naturalistic tone is jarring from all that has proceeded it (and it is awkwardly staged). It’s an effectively written scene but it doesn't so much end the play as simply makes it stop.
Three of the orginal cast members return, including the wonderful Keith Hobbs as Jimmy, Strings’ worshipful personal assistant who is always at the ready, “right on the corner of Beck and Call.” Also making the most of all their scenes are Heather Burns as Nancy, the massage therapist and future Mrs. McCrane; CJ Burns as Strings’ half brother; and Adelaide Clemens as Strings’ second cousin who becomes another romantic interest and toss-away..
Walt Spangler’s turntable utilitarian set design appears to be the same, too, and the script is seemingly close to the original as well. Casting Driver is the only major new element — and it’s as if he would single-handedly transform the play. He changes it in tone but not necessarily makes it any better. You could even say he adds to the feeling of uncertainty with a performance that drifts and some moments that are belabored.
Who will like it?: Fans of Driver — and this is a great opportunity to see the talented actor live and up close in an intimate theater setting.
Who won’t?: Those craving a role for the actor in which he can really sink his teeth. His performance in the Broadway production of “Burn This” was such a part and he was dazzling..
For the kid? : Teen fans of Driver’s perhaps, but not younger,
Thoughts on leaving the parking lot?: I am disappointed that the playwright didn’t heed the chorus of critics (and not just the professionals, and not just me) who said the play had promise but needed significant work: tightening, deepening and achieving a consistency of tone. Obviously Lonergan thought a change in lead actor was all it needed to make it a great play. He was wrong.
