REVIEW: ‘Cost of Living’ features excellent acting, exquisite writing
Photo: Katy Sullivan and David Zayas star in Cost of Living on Broadway. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Daniel / Provided by BBB with permission.
NEW YORK — Manhattan Theatre Club’s production of Martyna Majok’s Cost of Living is simply exquisite, featuring some of the best Broadway performances of the season. Jo Bonney, one of the finest directors in New York, brings Majok’s important, soul-searching story to life with the wondrous acting of Gregg Mozgala, Katy Sullivan, Kara Young and David Zayas. This play, which has been extended to Nov. 6, is not to be missed at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.
Mozgala plays the character of John, a graduate student at Princeton University in New Jersey. He has cerebral palsy and has brought in Jess (Young), a graduate of Princeton herself, for an interview to be a home aide. They don’t exactly hit it off perfectly, and there’s doubt on either side of the relationship on whether this setup will work, but they decide to give the professional relationship a try.
In a separate story, Sullivan plays Ani, who has survived a horrible car accident. Both of her legs were amputated, and she has lost the use of her arms. She is separated from her husband, Eddie (Zayas), but they come to an agreement that he can serve as the caregiver to save some money during these cash-strapped times.
These two narratives are ostensibly separated, although they both take place in New Jersey, but they are connected in how Majok explores the different levels of human connection and how each of the characters needs to open up to this particular partner in their midst. They learn valuable life lessons — hard-earned lessons — from spending time with each other and embracing newfound friendships, but there’s simultaneous resistance. This push and pull make for thrilling theater that is at times dramatic and other times hilarious, with emotions and moods turning on a dime.
John and Jess, for example, don’t always mesh well in their conversations, and John is uncertain if Jess is up for the task of taking care of his daily needs. Similarly, at first, Ani believes it’s a horrible idea for Eddie to become her caregiver; they are separated romantically, after all, and he is living with another woman.
Jess is a fascinating character, played with superb acting skills by Young. This follows on the heels of her Tony-nominated Broadway debut in Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s. She’s searching for gainful employment and knows she can provide helpful assistance to John, but his probing questions are off-putting, and she misreads one or two conversational points, leading to a devastating scene in which she must backtrack her initial assumptions. It’s one of the most effective sequences in the 100-minute, intermissionless play because John is unaware of Jess’ misread of the situation, but the audience understands what’s going on and can feel the hurt in Jess’ response.
There are messages and commentary within Cost of Living that are important to engage with and learn from, including the important themes of accessibility and caregiving, but the play moves beyond a general theme and focuses instead on real people living real lives. Human connection is what brings each of these characters together, a self-realization that people need other people, sometimes for specific caregiving and sometimes for conversation and friendship.
Majok’s words are expertly used to define each of the characters; it’s no wonder this play won so many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, during its earlier incarnations. Everything on stage, from a dialogue and relational perspective, feels real and authentic, as if these elongated, intimate conversations were happening in the rooms of a house, and the audience has been invited to sit and listen.
Eventually the two stories connect in a beautifully realized finale that allows the audience to view these grieving and distraught strangers finding a shared understanding and mutual assistance. They seem to be open to this connection because of the journeys they have undergone in earlier scenes — journeys that allowed them to examine their consciences and change their perspectives. No doubt the audience travels on a similar journey when experiencing the wonderful Cost of Living on Broadway.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Cost of Living, written by Martyna Majok and directed by Jo Bonney, stars Gregg Mozgala, Katy Sullivan, Kara Young and David Zayas. Running time: 100 minutes with no intermission. Playing through Nov. 6 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in a Manhattan Theatre Club production. Click here for more information and tickets.
