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AGES OF THE MOON Send This Review to a Friend
Sam Shepard’s latest, “Ages of the Moon,” alternately funny and sad, is another excursion into the world of men who have reason to bond but also are at odds with one another. The playwright has a gift of taking spare set-ups and endowing them with greater meaning as a result of his acute dialogue, vivid characterizations and arresting visualization. On this occasion the Atlantic Theater Company is presenting the Abbey Theatre production of the play, enhanced by two entertainingly expert performances by Stephen Rea and Seán McGinley, both appearing as a result of an exchange program between American Equity here and Irish Equity abroad.
Loneliness permeates the atmosphere as Ames (Rea) sits on the porch of his remote shack with his old friend Byron (McGinley), who has answered Ames’s call to help him get through a painful situation. Ames’s wife has discovered evidence revealing a dalliance and has thrown him out. Ames is bereft and drowning his sorrows with drink. He and Byron banter, argue and mull over events as they wait to see an eclipse of the moon.
Ames has a shotgun and what he fires at offers a hilarious moment of surprise. The relationship between the men is reminiscent of “Waiting for Godot,” but in the comic moments I couldn’t help thinking of them as akin to Laurel and Hardy channeled through Shepard—a far-fetched image, I admit. But the two seem to need each other, and there is the ineptness of one, in this case Ames, that causes trouble for both.
Comedy aside, the overall impression is one of loneliness, men aging and stranded in life that seems as barren as the moon they are watching. Shepard guarantees the kind of theatricality that grips the attention of audiences, and director Jimmy Fay obviously knows how to maximize what the playwright has given him. The actors are both extraordinary, a show unto themselves, and their performances add to the compelling nature of Shepard’s vision of these odd characters. At the Atlantic’s main stage Linda Gross Theater, 336 West 20th Street, $65. Phone: 212-279-4200.
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