REVIEW: Deirdre O’Connell has a story to tell in ‘Dana H.’ on Broadway
Deirdre O’Connell stars in Dana H. on Broadway. Photo courtesy of Chad Batka / Provided by Matt Ross PR with permission.
NEW YORK — Dana H., a new play by Lucas Hnath, is a remarkably unique and powerfully resonant monologue piece, now playing through Nov. 28 at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway. The show, which transferred from off-broadway’s Vineyard Theatre, stars Deirdre O’Connell as Dana Higginbottom, the playwright’s mother. This real-life character has an important and shocking story to tell, and it’s so necessary to hear the narrative without much interruption that Hnath and director Les Waters have staged the play as an interpretive retelling of actual audio from Higginbottom.
Here’s how it works: O’Connell sits centerstage in what appears to be a hotel room. The audience starts to hear real-life audio of Steve Cosson interviewing Higginbottom about her life, her career and a scary incident that took place years prior. O’Connell mouths every single word that Higginbottom says in this audio recording, but she doesn’t vocalize herself. This is essentially a lip-synched performance.
The uniqueness of Dana H. is part of an experimental project Vineyard Theatre is attempting on Broadway. This monologue piece runs in repertory with another boundary-pushing show called Is This A Room, where the actors perform a transcript from an FBI interrogation, word for word, cough for cough. It has been a long time since Broadway has had such daring and “downtown” fare like these two plays, and their addition in Midtown Manhattan should be welcome news.
O’Connell performs in a wondrously realistic sense, even though she doesn’t vocalize any of the script. She matches her facial expressions, hand gestures and moving mouth with every word, intonation and clearing of the throat that Higginbottom offers on the audio recording. After a while, it’s as if Higginbottom is in the theater, and O’Connell has somehow transformed herself into this real person.
The actual story that is shared is scary and tense. Higginbottom brings the audience through her experiences as a nondenominational chaplain in Florida. She would work with everyone, no matter their faith, counseling patients and sometimes helping them face the end of their life. She seems like the type of person who wouldn’t say no to anyone — literally anyone. And then her trusting ways are tested when she meets a hateful and hate-filled man who terrorizes her, dropping the curtain between professional and personal. What transpires, which is best kept a secret, is harrowing and terrifying.
Waters is a smart director. He understands that the power of the piece can be found in the voice of Higginbottom and the matching physicality of O’Connell’s performance, so he doesn’t let too many directorial flourishes get in the way of the story being told. This is a conversation piece, this is an extended monologue, this is intimate theater playing out in a large Broadway house.
It’s not hyperbole to say that Dana H. has expanded the definition of theater, and with its mounting at the Lyceum, the show has also expanded the definition of Broadway. Perhaps the New York theater scene is changing, and more voices and more experimentation can take place in Midtown Manhattan. Dana H. promotes the impact of storytelling and the possibilities of theater. The show and its anchoring performance are marvelous to behold.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Dana H., by Lucas Hnath and starring Deirdre O’Connell, is now playing at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway. Directed by Les Waters. Running time: 75 minutes. Click here for more information and tickets.
