Burn This

(Hudson Theatre, 30 March 2019)

The production is first and foremost a showcase for its leads, Kerri Russell and Adam Driver, both appropriately ageless. The plot is driven by events and personalities more than by each character's character (at least while in previews), perhaps, because two hours is insufficient to thoroughly set up each character, or doing so would be too risky in 2010s, or would require to sacrifice too many Wildesque repartees. While movies have not destroyed destroyed theatre, TV shows, unleashed, just might.

The events are set in the safely distant era that is either pre-woke (1980s) or post-woke (2020s), lest the positive be mistaken for the normative. The narrative gets deeper as the play progresses. The seemingly accidental churning of words, people, and events emerges as the play's philosophy: talk, reevaluate, or else you run the risk of being left behind your better self.