INTERVIEW: ‘As Time Goes By’ finds Adam and David snowed in, needing to connect
Photo: As Time Goes By features, from left, Ephraim Birney as Adam and Joel Meyers as David. Photo courtesy of Out of the Box Theatrics / Provided by official site.
As Time Goes By, the new play by Danny Brown, begins with a Grindr date but evolves into a snowstorm that keeps Adam and David together in a New York City apartment, needing to talk with each other and connect. They weren’t expecting a relationship out of the hook-up, but that’s exactly what forms in this Out of the Box Theatrics production, which is directed by Noah Eisenberg.
As Time Goes By, starring Ephraim Birney as Adam and Joel Meyers as David, came to Eisenberg because he’s old friends with Brown, the playwright. The director decided to support his friend at the show’s first reading, and he fell in love with the words of the play.
“My first seeing of this piece was actually at the first reading,” Eisenberg said. “Danny was a MFA dramaturg at Columbia and a friend of mine from before, and I literally just went … to support my friend. And I have never so quickly gone, ‘I have to work on this play.’ There was something so intimate and vulnerable and witty and painful about this script that I sat there from the first reading just like, ‘I have to get my hands on this.’”
Eisenberg described the character of Adam as incredibly guarded, a neat freak who is recently out of a long relationship. Because of losing this recent love in his life, he’s grown a bit cynical about dating and what it means to be Queer. David, on the other hand, is nine years younger and a new transplant to New York City. The director called this character bold, someone who can play at the adults’ table. He comes at conversations with a great deal of hope and a young person’s outlook. They both share a faith tradition in Judaism.
“More so than the religious Judaism, I think they connect over cultural Judaism,” Eisenberg said. “What goes into being a Jewish person in New York and really in America? It’s the first thing that connects them into something that’s actually real. David turns around and sees Adam’s mezuzah, and it’s the first time they have an actual conversation.”
The two characters find themselves snowed in at this nice New York City apartment, which is fully built and realized by scenic designer Baron E. Pugh at 154 Christopher St., where the play continues until Sunday, March 30.
“We knew pretty immediately that we wanted it to feel like a very isolated moment,” Eisenberg said. “You are looking at these 90 minutes, and nothing exists outside of it, other than what’s within it. And so there’s a portal around the set that makes it feel really boxed in and gives you this tightening feeling that draws you into the show. The actual staging is mostly naturalistic to allow space for both the words and really letting the relationship speak for itself.”
The director added: “The play begins where David is going to leave, like on page five or six, and he can’t get a car. He doesn’t have the ability to leave, and so it becomes almost an anti-first date where neither one of them completely wants to be in this situation. But they’re forced to have it. It’s that idea of as we strip the layers back of who these people are, what vulnerability are you willing to put on a table to a stranger.”
Eisenberg said working with these two actors has been a dream come true. He called them talented, and he appreciated their creative way of approaching the material. He had heard of Birney’s work before, and the playwright had seen him act on stage. “We looked at a few different people and realized pretty quickly these are our two,” he said.
Ultimately Eisenberg is hoping audience members walk away from As Time Goes By with a feeling of being seen. The story is not only about Adam and David; the narrative transcends these 90 minutes.
“Yes, this play is very specifically about two gay Jews, but my favorite thing about pieces like this is that identity becomes a framework not a vehicle,” the director said. “This is a play that anyone who really can date or has been on dating apps or has had that awkward first date can really relate to. We see them go through the push and pull and the ‘will they, won’t they,’ but it’s about their connection and what it drives them to do. So I guess I would want people to feel like they can see themselves and maybe take away a little bit of their own strengths to go for what they want.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
As Time Goes By, directed by Noah Eisenberg, continues through Sunday, March 30, at 154 Christopher St. in the West Village of Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
