Theater Three's production of Seminarby Theresa Rebeck opened April 28, 2014. Set in present-day Manhattan in Kate's (Janielle Kastner) large, rent-controlled apartment owned by her family, four young aspiring fiction writers meet regularly under the tutelage of Leonard (Mark Fickert). Each has paid $5,000 for the privilege of having him critique their work.
Ms. Rebeck has painted five complex characters. Leonard, who is clearly coasting on his laurels as a brilliant writer, is a bitter has-been who is lucky to snag an occasional editing job and a gig now and then mentoring aspiring writers. Douglas (Jeff Burleson) is full of himself and constantly spouts pseudo-pedantic sentences that make little sense except to Douglas.
Izzy (Jenna Anderson) is the femme fatale of the group, and she knows it. Kate is the brainy one and is totally demoralized by Leonard who dismisses her work after reading only five words of her budding novel. Martin (Clay Wheeler) is the sensitive one who is smitten with Izzy.
All of the group members, as well as Leonard, take themselves so seriously that it's hard not to laugh at their unrealistic idealism. They scream and yell at each other a lot, and Leonard is the champion shouter of them all. All five cast members turn in splendid performances, as this is truly an ensemble endeavor.
Unfortunately Ms. Rebeck's writing doesn't fare nearly as well. It's little wonder that Seminar, which opened on Broadway in November 2011, closed after only five and a half months. The F bomb is dropped more times than one can count not to mention gratuitous accounts of descriptive sexual acts and brief, gratuitous nudity. While I have nothing against strong language or nudity, they are totally misplaced if they do not serve to further the plot. In the case of Seminar, they do not.
Seminar will probably continue to have a life around the country based on theater's four basic S's: Smut and Sex Sell Seats.
