Consequently, Act II—in which Dave falls into a clubgoer’s hazy spiral of sex, drugs, and deviance, and Fran decides to build a new life for herself in London—is mostly serious. The two acts—which both work well independently of each other—feel like two different plays, strung together only by common protagonists. And, once again, dudley heaps another deus ex machina-type tragedy upon Fran near the end, just as she is planning her escape from prostitution (one which I will not reveal here). It’s as if dudley isn’t listening to his own play telling him where it wants to go. He doesn’t seem to trust it completely, which is a shame because he ought to. Overall, though, Slag Heap is a good debut for dudley, and makes one eager to see where his writing will go from here.
Michael Morris’s sharp direction works wonders with these troublesome sections of the play, diving right into them fully instead of shying away half-heartedly. Such investment helps create fluid transitions and make the production feel like a seamless whole. He also gets terrific performances out of the cast. Vincent Kartheiser is right on target as Dave, making him an endearing blend of naiveté and self-centeredness. As Fran, Brienan Nequa Bryant convincingly navigates her character’s journey from tough-as-nails slag to fragile naif with aplomb. Polly Lee has a ball with Ashley’s bluntness and dry, deadpan humor. And Janelle Anne Robinson steals the show with her exuberant performance as Donna. Alexander Flores and Maggie Moore also turn in good work, respectively, as Darwin the delivery boy, and Natalie, the Eurotrash photographer who gives Dave and Fran some work in London. Despite each of their character’s respective drawbacks, the actors find things to like in these people, and they make the audience like them, too.

Quelle: http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/archweb/arch2005_16.htm

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