CatherineRhodes.com

Right blend of comedy and pathos

Giving a boost to the relevance of Time Mag

“Next Fall” at the Geffen last night was really good, one of the best plays we’ve seen there. The title works on many levels. Next fall is when one of the gay characters is going to come out to his parents. Since the screenplay discusses themes of Christianity, the term “fall” has religious overtones, as in the fall of man, fall of Adam, fall from grace. Plus, on a more abstract level, the reason for the crisis point that brought everyone together was a physical fall that sent the character to the ED. Great acting, smart dialogue. Big YES.

“Ides of March” is now one of my favorite political movies of all time, really. (Gosling and Clooney — yummy, a little something for the ladies.) The writers took the play, which I saw as “Farragut North” at the Geffen, and dialed it up a notch. No new ground here, after all this is Clinton territory that we explored with “Primary Colors” and “Wag the Dog.” But the story of loyalty and betrayal done extremely well. Did she write the letter and does he have it? Big YES.

What these two share is the tension between two men within a relationship. The father-son dynamic, issues of ambition, of toppling the other to gain prominence. I’ve been focused so much on female characters and leads that I’ve forgotten how interesting the male dynamic is. While there can be a happy pack of alpha females, there can be only one alpha male at the head of the pack.