Play: A Behanding in Spokane

Scan

I have to say that I am a huge Martin McDonagh fan. I haven't seen all of his plays, but I've at least read most. Therefore, it was a no brainer that the wife and I would get a babysitter and go in to see his latest play, "A Behanding in Spokane" on Broadway.

How was it? Well, it was good, but it was far from being McDonagh's best.

The plot involves a man by the name of Carmichael (played by Christopher Walken) who has had his left hand cut of by a group of toughs at a very young age. He has searched for the hand for 47 years, and thinks he has finally found it. Marilyn (Zoe Kazan) and Toby (Anthony Mackie) claim to have the man's missing hand and are willing to sell it to him for $500. When the hand turns out to be a fake, big trouble starts.

The play is a pitch black comedy farce. It holds back no punches and doesn't even bothering with the pretense of trying to be politically correct. Run without an intermission, it races from beginning to end and is never boring.

The acting performances are good, although Walken is basically being Walken throughout the play. There is little along the lines of new characterization from him, as he lets his own recognizable tics take over. Sam Rockwell is excellent, given a tough character to get a handle on, makes it his own. Anthony Mackie is strong as the overly sensitive scammer. If the cast had a weak link, it would have to be Zoe Kazan. She plays a ditz well, but sometimes gets overpowered by other actors on stage and has lines lost due to too soft delivery.

There are some questionable choices made by McDonagh. Rockwell's character comes out in the middle of the play and addresses the audience. It gives his character background, but is rather unnecessary. It's the kind of bit that would run to hide a scene change, but this was a one-set piece. This interruption could have been added into the main flow of the show and it would have been more effective.

Another questionable scene is an extended phone call between Walken's character and his mother. The bit is necessary to set up the ending, but ran longer than it needed to. It reeked of being filler.

But all in all, it was a really good show. The style is not for anyone, but if you are strong of heart and stomach, you'll find plenty of laugh out loud moments.