The Amoralists have become one of the most exciting theater companies in New York City through the intense collaboration of a group of amazing young actors with the powerhouse playwright/director Derek Ahonen who also serves as co-artistic director and literary manager.
Ahonen has written a series of wonderful plays designed for his company — hard-to-describe but intensely entertaining comedy-dramas such as “Happy in the Poorhouse” and “The Pied Pipers of the Lower East Side.” The actors have gotten sharper and funnier with each new production.
Now, The Amoralists have joined forces with a new writer-director, Adam Rapp, who has become one of the bright lights of off Broadway and off off Broadway in recent years through a number of gripping and oddly hilarious plays such as “The Metal Children” and “Red Light Winter.”
Rapp has returned to an early play “Ghosts in the Cottonwoods” — originally developed at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Connecticut in 1996 — and has revived (and revised) it with The Amoralists with predictably explosive results.
Rapp writes about extreme emotional states that demand brave actors and adventurous audiences who are willing to go down some very dark roads. “Whether you love or hate this play, I’m glad you were here to witness it,” Rapp writes in a note in the playbill.
“Witness” is the right word for “Ghosts in the Cottonwoods” which is a crime scene in the form of a play, confronting us with characters and situations that we would probably try our best to avoid in “real” life. The violence is both physical and emotional and is not easy to absorb.
The genius of Rapp is that by the end of one of his plays we feel deep connections with his violent and violated characters — like it or not. There are echoes of Sam Shepard and Samuel Beckett and other darkly comic dramatists in Rapp’s plays, but whatever he has drawn from those great stage writers he has transformed into his own style.
“Ghosts” is set in “that uncharted forested region between the interstate and the factory outlet in the southern Midwest.”
The 90-minute, intermissionless play takes place inside a ramshackle cabin where — as the lights go up — we meet Bean Scully (Sarah Lemp) and her grown son Pointer (Nick Lawson).
The young man is naked and mom is helping him remove the leeches that are all over his body.
Bean doesn’t look much older than Pointer and when she gets him to dance with her the nature of their relationship shifts in an unsettling manner.
The first stage picture is jarring but sets the mood for what follows — a tale of twisted family relationships that include strong hints of incest and physical abuse.
Bean and Pointer are waiting for the return of their son/brother Jeff Scully (James Kautz) who has escaped from prison on a charge that doesn’t become clear until late in the play.
Newton Yardley (William Apps) shows up on the Scully doorstep before Jeff, suffering from a terrible — and graphically depicted — leg injury.
Newton sweet talks the lonely Bean while she helps him with the wound. We find out early on that Newton has been contracted to kill Jeff when he shows up.
Two other characters arrive — Bean’s girlfriend Shirley Judyhouse (Mandy Nicole Moore) and someone who is simply called “The Man” (Matthew Pilieci).
“Ghosts in the Cottonwoods” contains unforgettable moments of pure horror and insane comedy. I have no idea how Rapp is able to mix such unstable elements together with such spectacular results.
The ensemble work here is stunning. I would imagine that only a group of actors who have worked with each other many times could mesh this way on such a challenging piece of material.
The Amoralists’ willingness to go all the way — physically and emotionally — is perfectly matched with Rapp’s extremely demanding play.
(“Ghosts in the Cottonwoods” is on through Dec. 6 at Theatre 80 St. Marks. For performance and ticket information visit www.theamoralists.com)
“Million Dollar Quartet” (above) to “Memphis.”
